Who does she like?
by animeaddict8
Summary: Natsu ang Gray discover Lucy has a crush on one of them. But the question is which one? See what they do to find out? Will they be happy with the results? Do they feel the same way? Only way to find out is by reading. I havent decided who she ends up with yet. I guess we will see as the story progresses. Enjoy
1. Am I Invisable?

**Arthurs Note::I don't Own Fairy Tail::**

******So this story is taking place a little after the Edolas ark, but before the S-class exams (im currently watching that one). I'm not sure how long I'm going to make it yet, because it started off as a idea that just popped up so I thought I would type it up and see where it went from there. Please tell me what you think**

******I hope you enjoy it. **

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"I don't know what to do Mira." Lucy said with a depressed tone in her voice as she layed her head on the bar.

"What's wrong Lucy?" Mira asked worried about her friend she'd never so upset about anything other then being late on her rent payment. "Is your rent almost due?"

Picking her head up off of the bar the blond spoke, "No it's not that it's just..." she paused letting out a long sigh before she continued "Ever since Lisanna came back I feel like I'm not even apart of Team Natsu anymore."

"What do you mean?" Mira said confused.

"Well..." the spirit mage started explaining "Don't get me wrong I love your sister but ever since she came back Natsu and the others have pretty much been excluding me from missions."

"Oh come on that can't be true" Mira spoke with her usual upbeat tone.

"Oh trust me it is." Lucy continued speaking "Just a few days ago I was sitting over there"(her finger points to a random table in the guild)" with levy when Natsu, happy and Lisanna walked through the doors laughing.

~Flashback in Lucy's P.O.V~

"So Lucy when am I going to get to ready that Novel?" The blue haired mage asked "I cant wait to read it". With a soft chuckle I responded "It's still not finished but don't worry Levy when it is finished you will be the first one I let read it." I said reassuringly. "You'd better" Levy responded suddenly giving me a serious but joking stare causing us to laugh. Changing the topic she suddenly asked me "So have you gone on any interesting missions lately?" That question caused my smile to disappear and my tone to sound sad, "Actually I haven't gone on a mission in almost three weeks and with rent being due soon I don't know if I'll have it on time."

Just then the guild hall doors opened and a smiling Natsu, Happy and Lisanna walking in. As Lisanna took a seat next to Erza who was currently talking to Gray Natsu ran towards the request board and scanned over it to see if there were any good ones. Seeing one that peaked his interest he yanked it off the board and ran over to where everyone was talking.

"See Lucy it looks you will be able to make rent after all." She pointed over to where Natsu was as he showed everyone the request he picked out. Next thing I knew Natsu, Erza, Gray and of course Lisanna were standing in front of the guild doors when he shouted to Mira, "Hey Mira" the guild grew silent with the sudden outburst "Tell gramps we are heading out to take this request." He flashed the paper at Mira and she nodded and waved them off.

After the doors shut Levy looked at me with concern in her eyes "Hey Lucy how come they didn't ask you to come along with with them?" Letting out a deep sigh I responded, "I honestly don't know Levy. Ever since Lisanna came back they have been taking her along with them on missions and completely forgetting about me. This is the third time it's happened." Placing a comforting hand on mine she smiled at me and said "Don't worry if you need to you can come with Jet, Droy and I on some of our missions so you can make rent". "Thanks Levy" I replied back with a smile.

~End Flashback~ back to Regular P.O.V

"So you see Mira it's like I've become totally invisible." Lucy said with a frown on her face "I mean the first time I understand. Natsu was excited about having her back and probably wanted to take her along to show her what all she's missed. The second time it bugged me a bit but I let it slide. But this is 3 times now and I'm really upset about it. Like I said before I know Natsu is just happy to have her back but what's also upsetting is the fact that Erza or Gray didn't say a word about it to me." the blond let out a long sigh before she finished her sentence "I think I am gonna take Levys offer and join them on a couple of missions."

"Are you sure Lucy?" Mira asked with concern "Maybe you should talk to Gray and them about this first. I'm sure they don't mean to exclude you everyone's just happy to have Lisanna back."

"I know everyone is Mira I'm happy she's back. But right now is not a good time to talk to them about this. I know they don't mean to exclude me but even so this just needs to happen for a little while. And who knows" she stood up before she finished talking "maybe this time I can come back from a job request knowing a town wasn't destroyed in the process" she said with a faint chuckle as she walked towards Levy.

~About half an hour later~

The guild doors slammed open with Erza and levy walking in front and Natsu and Gray arguing behind them. "Alright thanks Levy" A somewhat more cheerful Lucy spoke as she headed for the guild doors. Walking past the group Erza and Lisanna greeted her only to get a smile as a response. After passing the girls she walked through the still arguing males making her way out. Something inside her at that moment felt more betrayed by those two more then anything. Stopping their argument for just a moment they both happily greeted her only to receive silence as she made her way to the door way. Confused as to what was wrong with Lucy they decided to put their argument on hold long enough to speak with Mira and see if she knew anything about it.

"Hey Mira" Natsu spoke as he sat in one of the seats at the bar with Gray right behind him Erza was a couple of chairs away eating some cake. "Do you know what's wrong with Lucy? She seemed like she was upset about something."

With her usual cheerful tone she explained everything Lucy had told her. "WHAT!" the pink haired mage shouted as he slammed his fist onto the counter. The ice mage sat there silent but clearly he was upset about the whole situation. The sudden outburst caused the guild to fall silent. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE IS GOING TO BE JOINING LEVYS TEAM" his tone still angry and shouting "SHE"S PART OF TEAM NATSU." he protested. Placing a hand on his shoulder Gray spoke "Calm down Natsu! Shouting isn't going to help anything". Natsu suddenly giving Gray a angry glare and continued shouting, "HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO CALM DOWN GRAY? IF ANYTHING YOU SHOULD BE JUST AS UP SET ABOUT THIS AS I AM.

"Believe me Natsu I am upset about this but shouting will get us no where." Gray spoke calmly " And besides you heard what Mira said Lucys upset and..."

"He's right Natsu" Erza interrupted placing her hand on Natsu's shoulder telling him to calm down "Without realizing it we have left Lucy out of our last 3 job requests. I don't blame her for being upset" she spoke with a frown on her face. "If you knew why didn't you say something about it?" The dragon slayer said in a calmer tone with anger still in his voice as he glanced from Erza to Gray.

"We're not the only ones to blame for this Natsu." Gray argued. "What are you talking about?" Natsu's said a bit confused. "You are as just much to blame for this as we are" Gray explained. "Think about it how much time have you been spending with Lucy since Lisannas been back? Since shes returned you two have been spending a lot of time in that little hut house y'all built together back then."

Hearing those words come from Grays mouth Natsu shot up saying "We're going to talk to Lucy. Come on Happy" he said with determination in his eyes and sadness in his heart. "Aye sir" the blue cat replied back flying after him and Gray and Erza not to far behind.

~In front of Lucys house~

"Why won't this window open?" Natsu shouted as he struggled to pry it open. "Because its locked idiot" the ice make mage stated "Lucy obviously doesn't want to see us right now and clearly she knew we would try to barge in and talk to her."

"LUCY!" the pink haired boy started shouting, "IF YOUR IN THERE OPEN UP! LUCY!"

"NATSU" Erza shouted getting the dragon slayer to stop his shouting "That's enough!" she demanded.

"Erza's right Natsu" the dark haired boy spoke "Let's just wait till tomorrow and we can talk to Lucy then."

"No!" Natsu protested against what his friends were saying "We need to talk to Lucy. She's our friend. We have to..."

"That's enough Natsu" a frustrated Erza interrupted him "Lucy is hurting. Don't you get that?"

"That's exactly why we..." Natsu tried to argue but was interrupted again. "What we have to do is give her some space."

With Erza's tone getting scarier by the minute told Natsu to let it go and just wait.

**_Lucy_** Natsu though to himself **_Did I really get so caught up in the excitement of Lisanna being back that I forgot all about you?_ **

~Lucys P.O.V of everything going on outside~

As my towel hit the floor I slowly slid my body into the hot bath trying to ease my mind of all my problems and relax. Earlier when I got home the first thing I did was make sure all my windows and my door were securely locked because if I know Natsu as well as I think I do as soon as he learns why I am upset he will charge in my house and try to talk me out of joining Levys team.

Just as I was about to get completely relax I heard some faint shouts coming from outside my house. Still sitting in the shower I tried to listen as best as I could which wasn't as hard because Natsu was shouting most of the time and in frustration caused Erza to shout back. I had a feeling Gray was there but I wasn't for sure because I never heard him speak. As they continued their argument I could feel my heart slowly breaking. There they were 'my friends' worried about me but at the same time they were the exact reason she was upset in the first place.

**_I just need sometime away from them to think about everything and with Levy, Jet and Droy I can do just that_** and with that I let out a long sigh as I just finished my bath. Grabbing my towel I wrapped it around my body and walked out of the bath. Just as I stepped onto the bathroom floor I noticed the shouting had stopped much to my relief. After I dried off and put on my pajamas and went to sleep

~End of Lucys P.O.V~ ~The next day Normal P.O.V~

That morning Lucy woke up and walked into her bathroom to freshen up before she headed for the guild to meet up with Levy so they could choose a job request. About half an hour later Lucy finished tying up her hair and headed out the door. As she twisted the knob and opened the front door she suddenly halted noticing there was a certain dark haired mail standing in front of her door.

"G-Gray!" she said a little surprised to him standing there.

"Hey Lucy" he responded with a smile "What's up?"

"What are you doing here?" she asked. She didn't expect any of her friends let alone Gray to be waiting at her door if anything Natsu seemed more like the type to do something random like that. After the whole conversation outside of her house last night she was hoping they would be at the guild waiting to talk to her.

"Well we came by last night to talk to you but when you didn't answer the door I decided to come to your house earlier enough to talk to you before Natsu bombarded you with questions." Gray explained. "Can we go somewhere to talk?"

"Actually" she she said trying to find a way out of it. "I can't because I told Levy I'd meet her so we could decide on a job request." As she said that she could see sadness in his eyes and even though she wasn't ready she decided to give in. Letting out a soft sigh she spoke again. "But I can be a little late" grabbing his hand she guided him inside and they sat on her couch their hands separating almost as soon as they sat down.

For what seemed like forever there was silence between the two. _**If he doesn't say something in the next five seconds I'm gonna get up and Leave. Five. Four. Three. Two**_.

"I'm sorry Lucy" he suddenly spoke knocking the blonde haired mage out of her own thoughts. "Huh?" she said a bit confused.

"I'm sorry. You have every right to be mad at Erza, Natsu and Myself." The ice make mage spoke apologetically "We never meant to leave you out of any of the job requests. We were just so caught up in Lisanna being back somehow we forgot to include you. I know it's no excuse. Lucy our team is nothing without you. You are as much of an importants to our team as everyone else."

Placing a hand softly on his knee she spoke "Gray first off... Your clothes." Somehow during his apology his shirt had came off. Watching him scramble to put it back on she continued "Gray I understand why you guys did what you did" Hearing those words come from her mouth caused Gray to look at her with a bit of confusion. "I get it. Lisanna has been apart of Fairy tail since she was a kid. Going two years thinking she was dead must of been hard on everyone and then for her to suddenly reappear who wouldn't be excited about something like that." He could see the tears building up in her eyes. "Trust me I'm not mad. It's just..." she paused for a minute wiping the tears from her eyes before she continued "That for a split second I felt like my spot in the team was being taken over. Because lets face it Lisanna is a stronger wizard then I am. Without my keys I'm useless."

"No!" Gray blurted out. Hearing Lucy downgrade herself right in front of him upset him. "Don't you say that about yourself Lucy. I have seen you do plenty of amazing things with or without your spirit keys. Even though Lisanna has been apart of Fairy Tail for a long time to me she could never replace you. Without you our team is nothing. With all of our magic combined if you aren't there with us our group would feel empty." Somehow in the process Grays hand had moved on top of the hand Lucy had played on his knee and started squeezing it hard enough to let her know he didn't want her going anywhere but not to the point where it hurt her.

Before she could say anything her front door slammed open.

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That ends Chapter 1. I am working on chapter 2 right now.

PS: I am a NaLu and a GrLu fan so i cant decide which one she ends up with yet. I might throw in a LoLu moment but im not sure yet because even though they are also cute together he is her celestial spirit. Only time will tell I guess. Thanks again for reading and let me know what you think


	2. They find out

**Arthors Note::I don't own Fairy Tail::**

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"Lucy!" the pink haired dragon slayer barged in shouting "I need to talk to you!"

"I'm right here Natsu" Lucy said irritated "There's no need to shout."

Walking into the living room he saw not only Lucy but Gray sitting on her couch and it looked like they were holding hands. "Gray" Natsu asked "What are you doing here?" But before he could answer he was interrupted by the cat flying up behind Natsu.

"From the look of things i would say Gray and Lucy llllllllllike each other." Happy snickered followed by Lucy angrily shouting "Shut it cat". "Then why are you holding hands?" the blue cat questioned as Lucys eyes directed down to see Gray still holding her hand. Yanking her hand away her face started to blush a small tent of pink."A-Anyways Natsu why are you here?" She asked trying to change the topic.

"O-Oh right" he said remembering why he was there. "I'm here because I want to talk to you. Why are you joining Levys team? You are already apart of our team."

"Am I?" she asked sarcastically "Because lately it hasn't seemed that way." Anger started to show on her face as she started explaining her reasons again. "And besides Natsu it's not permanente. Its only temporary because rent is almost due and I need to work so I can pay it."

"Then we can find a job for you. Erza, Gray, myself and happy can find one that we can do together. You don't need to go with Levy, Jet and Droy." he spoke as he tried to get her to change her mind.

"I-It's not just about my rent." she spoke softly as she gripped at her skirt. It was obvious to Natsu and Gray (who was still sitting on the couch in silence) there was something she was clearly not telling them. Even in her earlier conversation with Gray he sensed there was another reason but didn't push it.

"Then what is it?" He asked with concern as he walked over to the couch and sat on the other side of her. "You can tell us anything." he said in a softer tone.

"You know what?"she said suddenly painting on a fake smile "I completely forgot I was supposed to meet Levy at the guild." as she shot up off the couch she bolted for the door. Just as she was about to shut the door behind her she shouted "You guys are free to stay as long as you like. I don't know how long the job will take but feel free to help yourself to whatever is in the fridge. Please don't break anything, go through any of my stuff and please don't read my novel. It's still not done and when it is Levy is the first person who gets to read it." With that she was gone leaving the two boys to themselves.

Immediately Natsu got up off the couch to rummage through her fridge. Taking advantage of the now free space on the couch Gray shifted himself so he could take a nap. Happy on the other hand (completely ignoring what Lucy has just said) flew to Lucys desk and saw another letter to her mom sitting on her desk. Curiosity getting the better of him he decided to open it and started to read what it said.

Without even getting half way through it Happy shouted, "Natsu!" Which caused him to pull his head out of the fridge and Gray to sit up wondering what all the yelling was about. "I found this letter Lucy left out." the cat continued.

"Geez Happy" Gray said as he got off the couch and started walking toward Happy "Didn't I tell you before it's not polite to read Lucy's stuff."

"What's it say?" Natsu questioned pulling the letter out of the cats hand and started reading out loud.

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**Dear Mom,**

**Things at Fairy Tail are just as hectic as ever. Natsu and Gray are always fighting but I know its just their way of acknowledging each other as they get stronger and believe me we have been on so many adventures together it amazes me every time I see them fight an enemy. The way those two never give up makes me strive to be a better wizard myself. Oh and did I mention Lisanna came back a couple of weeks ago. Everyone in the guild was so happy. Mira and Elfman were so relieved to know she had been alive this whole time. We had a big party for her and everyone went nuts. I even got punched in the face by Natsu. **

"You did what?" Gray interrupted shocked and angry at what he just heard. "How could you punch Lucy?"

"I didn't punch her." Natsu said as he tried to remember everything that had happened that day but when his mind couldn't remember he just decided to continue reading.

**Don't worry though mom it was all an accident. I guess that's what I get for going near Natsu while he's sleeping. Knowing him he was probably dreaming about fighting someone. But you know mom things have been kind of lonely lately. Since Lisanna has been back I feel like I've suddenly become invisible to my friends. I know they are excited to have Lisanna back especially Natsu. Heck those two have practically been joined at the hip since she's come back. But lately they have been going on missions without me. They don't even come over and visit me anymore. I know it normally bugs me when they all barge in my house but now I kind of miss it.**

Reading those words Natsu felt as if his heart was slowly breaking but he never let the pain show as he kept reading.

**And what makes it worse is I think I am falling for one of them. I wish you were here so I could talk to you about this.**

After he read that sentence both males hearts started racing for what they thought was nervousness. "M-Maybe we should stop." Gray insisted "If Lucy knew we were reading this she'd kill us"

"I don't know. I kind of wanna know" Natsu protested even though he himself was hesitant to continue.

"Suit yourself" Gray responded as he went to sit on the couch as he listened to Natsu read again.

**I would talk to Mira but word spreads fast in that guild and soon everyone would know. I don't know what to do mom I told my self when I first got into Fairy Tail that I would never fall for someone in the guild and yet here I am. But in a way I can't help it there are so many wonderful things about him that make my heart race. He is such a great wizard. He can be goofy but when it comes time to fight he becomes so serious and determined. He has a really bad habit but I can over look it (kind of). He is always there for me when I need him and he always protects me if I am in danger. Those are just a few off the top of my head the list could go on forever. But the main reason I can't tell him besides the fact that he is a teammate and a friend is because there is someone else at the guild who likes him. She is almost always around him. She has pretty much made her feelings very clear to everyone but him. I don't know if I could do that to her because she is my friend. I don't know but that's why I am joining Levy and her team. Getting away on a job will help give me time to sort things out and clear my head.**  
** - Lucy**

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After folding up the letter and placing back on Lucys desk Natsu and Gray ended up lost in thought at what they had just heard.

_**Is it me?**_ they both thought.

"So" Happy suddenly spoke startling both males out of their thoughts. "Who do you think it is? I think its Gray."

"WHAT!" Natsu shouted "Why would Lucy be interested in ice brain over here." His eyes glanced over at Gray watching him coming towards him.

"What'd you say flame breath" Gray asked furiously his forehand now pressed to Natsu's as they both stared at one another with anger in their eyes. "Why wouldn't she be interested in me? I'm clearly a better mage then you."

Before the two could say anymore Happy butted in saying, "well it said in the letter that he had a bad habit and lets face it Gray's stripping is as bad of a habit as it gets. Plus they were holding hands earlier."

"Wha-" Gray was about to argue but Natsu interrupted, "But the letter also said something about him being goofy. That's gotta be me right?"

"I don't know Natsu. I mean compared to Gray you are pretty goofy. Most of the time Gray is as stiff as a board." the blue cat spoke as he walked next to Natsu completely ignoring the anger in the ice make mages eyes. "But the last thing she wrote was that there was someone else in the guild who liked him."

"Well lets see." Natsu said as he scratched his head "I got no idea."

"That is a tough one" Happy responded putting his paw to his paw to his chin trying to think "I mean who in their right mind would like you two?"

"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?" they both shouted simultaneously "DON'T LUMP ME IN THE SAME CATEGORY AS HIM!"

"Darn it" Happy butted in again completely ignoring the two angry mages "I wish she had put more details in her letter. Maybe we should just ask her?"

"And what makes you think she is going to tell us?" Gray pointed out "If we asked her something like that who knows how she would react. We should just wait for her to tell us when ever she feels ready. In the mean time I'm gonna go back to sleep until Lucy gets back." Natsu and Happy nodding that he had the right idea. "By the way Natsu" Gray spoke suddenly before he placed his head on the pillow "Why didn't Erza come over here with you?"

"Huh? Oh yeah!" Natsu thought back to a couple of hours ago "she was about to but just as we were about to head out gramps called her to talk to him. She told me to go on with out her and she would try to make it as soon as she could. I guess he needed her to do something for him. Don't worry though I'm sure she will be here tomorrow."

~Back at the guild Lucys P.O.V~

"What?" I said a bit shocked. I couldn't believe what Levy had just said.

"What's the matter Lucy. Trust me it's ok Jet, Droy and I discussed it and we came to an agreement. This job was mainly for you so you could pay your rent so why wouldn't we give you the whole reward."

"N-No I can't." I tried to argue "I barely did anything on that mission without your script magic we never would have been able to complete the job."

"Oh please you're still on that" she said with a chuckle "It was because of your and your celestial spirits that we beat the bad guys that were trying to steal the book I was trying to decipher. You really helped us out a lot. That's why Jet and Droy were so persistent to give you their half of the reward. And besides seeing you do your 'Lucy Kick' on the enemy while Aries had them distracted was pretty funny" she said with another chuckle.

"Levy" I said I was so happy to have a great friend like her. Giving her a hug i said "Thank you" and was about to head home. "Join us anytime you like." Levy yelled out to me as I was leaving. "I will" I said with a smile and left.

**_Today was just what I needed_** I was lost in though as I walked home. **_I got my rent money thanks to Levy and the rest of Shadow gear and I kind of got the whole crush situation figured out. But I decided it would be best to -_**

"Be careful miss Lucy" the guy in the boat shouted to me knocking me out of my thoughts "We wouldn't want you falling in."

"Don't worry" I reassured him with a smile "I'm completely safe" Not even a few minutes later I had already made it home. Walking through the door I quietly shut it behind me and walked into the living room. I wasn't really to surprised to see Gray asleep on my couch and Natsu and Happy had helped themselves to my bed. For some reason he says he sleeps better on my bed. What I didn't expect was what had caught my eye.

As I was getting an extra pillow and blanket preparing to sleep on my floor I could see something sparkling in the corner of my eye. Walking over to the table I now noticed 5 sparkling some things sitting on my table. Approaching the table I couldn't believe what I saw. Gray had used his Ice Make Magic to somehow make 5 ice figures. Looking at all of them i saw a little ice version of Happy, Erza, Gray, Myself and -" I let out a soft chuckle at the ice Natsu. Gray purposely made the ice Natsu look like Natsu normally did when he's on transportation. **_I can't believe he took the time to make these_** I thought as my eyes wondered a little bit further down to see a drawing that said 'We're Sorry Lucy' with Natsu and Happys face drawn on it. _**These guys are the best**_

Thinking about how horrible the day had started out to how it ended so wonderfully I was so over joyed. After I changed clothes I layed out my pillow and blanket and went to sleep.

~The Next Day~~End Lucys POV~

"IS THIS SUPPOSED TO BE ME?" Natsu shouted waking up Lucy in the process "WHY DID YOU MAKE ME LOOK LIKE THIS? WHAT THE HELL MAN!" it was clear Natsu hated the ice Natsu.

"Will you be quiet" Gray tried to get him to lower his voice "You're gonna wake Lucy up if you don't keep it down."

"Don't worry" Lucy said walking over to them rubbing her eyes to adjust to the light "I'm awake."

"Great see what you did you idiot" Gray said annoyed that Natsu had woken up the sleeping blonde "Sorry about that Lucy" he said apologeticly.

"I'm sorry too Lucy" Natsu said calmly but only for a short moment before the shouting began again "BUT I MEAN LOOK AT THIS! WHY IS IT YOU ONLY MADE ME LOOK BAD."

"Well it wasn't to hard" the Ice Make Mage spoke with a sarcastic tone.

"What did you say Perv-" An angry Natsu was about to fan the flames on thier argument but was interrupted my the blonde female.

"Thank You" She said with a smile on her face. Both Gray and Natsu gave her a confused look as they listened to what she was saying "Thank you guys so much. The ice figures and the drawing were just so sweet". Giving both males a hug she went off to the bathroom to take a bath.

"Hey guys" Happy said getting both mages attention "I think I came up with a way to decide which one of you she likes."

This peeked both Natsu and Grays attention kneeling down to the cats level so Lucy wouldn't over hear even though she was in the bath they wanted to be a bit cautious "So what's this Idea you have?" the dark haired boy asked. "Yeah man spill it? What'd you come up with?" Natsu asked right after.

"Well..." Happy paused for a sort of suspense effect "I thought you two could ..."

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**Ch 2 is finished. Sorry about the cliff hanger but tune in to the next chapter to see what Happy has in mind :)**

**I hope everyone liked it. In the letter to her mom I tried my best to put a trait of each of the males so it would still leave you guessing on which it could be. I hope I did well on doing that. Please let me know what you think and thank you everyone so far for your reviews and adding my story to your favorites. I appreciate it. Chapter 3 will be up as soon as possible.**

**Just a side note:: I don't know if Gray can do that with his magic but it seemed like a cool idea so I went a head and added it. And just so I didn't play favorites I added the gesture from Natsu. Since he can't really do something with his magic without sitting Lucys house on fire the drawing was the first thing that came to me**


	3. The Guidelines

**Arthurs Note::I don't own Fairy Tail::**

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"Well..." Happy paused for a sort of suspense effect "I thought you two could have...a sort of competition."

"A competition?" Gray questioned a bit uneasy about that idea "I don't know about that Happy." Natsu nodded agreeing with the dark haired boy. Most of the time when you think about a competition you think about there being some sort of prize for the winner. The thought of Lucy being a prize made them a bit uneasy.

"Well technically it's not a competition." Erza explained as she walked towards them confusing both males. They didn't know it but she had been there for quite some time listening to their conversation "Because for it to be a competition that means both of you would have to have a crush on Lucy and our trying to make her yours". "Do both of you like Lucy?" That cat question with a smile of curiosity crawling across his face.

At that moment both males were lost in their won thoughts. For one the thought about Lucy being anything more then a friend had never crossed his mind For the other the thought of her being more had crossed his mind many times but not wanting to make things awkward between them never acted on them.

Without waiting for an answer Erza continued speaking "The way I see it Lucy probably won't tell us who she likes because we are always together as a group or surrounded by a room full of people at the guild hall. But maybe if she can get some one on one time with the both of you it might make things a bit easier on her. But there is also a catch for the both of you as well" Hearing that actually sparked both boys interests and curiosity. "You see since there is a possibility that one of you may actually like Lucy while you guys are alone with her you must think long and hard about your feelings for her. Also, I was thinking we could come up with a couple of guidelines for you two to go by."

"Guidelines?" both boys said simultaneously. "Why do we need that for?" Natsu asked scratching the back of his head.

"Well because -" the the scarlet haired female was about to explain but was interrupted by a blonde coming out of the bathroom. "Sorry it took me so long" she said apologetically. "Geez Lucy" Happy teased "We thought you drowned or something. Seeing as you're so helpless and all."

"What's that supposed to mean ca-" she was about to yell at the blue feline when she noticed the female in her living room "Oh hey Erza" she said with a cheerful smile.

"Hey Lucy" Erza greeted a bit relieved to see she wasn't upset at her but still felt the need to say sorry any ways "Lucy, I'm so-"

"Don't worry about it!" she reassured her with a smile on her face. "After spending the morning talking to Gray I felt much better."

"Hey" Natsu said some what offended "What about Happy and I? We showed up yesterday too". "Aye" the cat responded shortly after.

"Yeah but when you came over you started shouting like an idiot" Gray teased knowing it would bother the pink haired mage. "Besides she left almost as soon as you got here". The Dragon Slayer spoke angrily "What'd you say Pervert" clenching his fist preparing to punch his rival/friend. "You heard me flame breath" Gray retorted preparing for another one of their usual fights.

"That's enough you too." the scarlet haired female spoke with a firm tone which to the two meant if they didn't stop right then there would more then likely be pain in the near future. "Aye" the boys said in harmony as they each wrapped an arm around each others neck pretending to be the best of friends. Letting out a deep sigh the blonde thought to herself **_There they go sounding like Happy again. I thought they'd learn by now_** she though shaking her head softly with a smile _**Oh well if they didn't then they wouldn't be them.**_Looking at one of the boys in particular she smiled. "So should we head for the guild now?" she asked.

"Yeah" Natsu said with excitement "Lets head o-" He was cut off by Erza "Actually you can go on a head Lucy." that confused the blonde a bit "Don't worry we will be right behind you once we are finished".

"O-Ok" she said with hesitation but left any ways. **_I wonder what all that was about_**.

~Back to Natsu, Erza and Gray~

"What the hell Erza" Natsu said a bit angry "Why did you make Lucy go on without us?"

"Because Natsu" she calmly explained "We still have things to discuss that we can't discuss in front of Lucy. Right Happy?" her glance now going over to the blue cat. "Aye" Happy cheerfully responded. "Alright" she female spoke again "Now I'll explain the guidelines so that you two know what you two can't do when you are alone with her. "Aye" the cat responded again.

"I'm confused" Natsu said to the dark haired boy as he scratched the back of his head "What are those two talking about?" Placing a hand to his forehead and letting out a deep sigh Gray looked back up at Natsu and responded "Don't tell me you forgot already." Though he wasn't really to surprised about it. "Remember we discussed spending some one on one time with Lucy to see which one of us she likes." After everything finally came back to him the fire mage spoke again "Oh ok that much I remember. But... Why do we need guidelines?"

"Well Natsu" Erza butted in before Gray could answer "I was about to explain it to you". After that all eyes went to the her as she started speaking. "You see Natsu. The reasons for this is because if we don't set this straight now the both of you will more then likely try and out do one another during your one on one time with Lucy." Erza continued "And if that happens there is a chance Lucy might think that each of your actions are being done because you are romantically interested in her and in doing so could end up clouding her mind with thoughts that she might be interested in the both of you instead of just one of you."

"Alright" Natsu said "So what are these guidelines?"

"Well..." Erza started explaining.

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**1.) You can't call your time with her a Date.**  
**2.) If you hurt Lucy. I'll hurt you (Erza made sure to add that one)**  
**3.) Don't do anything to flashy.**

**So your plans with her don't clash Natsu and Gray will have specific days for their one on one time Natsu you will get Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Gray you will get Monday, Wednesday, Friday. It is up to you how each of you use your days. Whether you choose to spend time with her or not is up to you.**

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After making sure everyone was ok with the rules they left Lucys house and went to meet up with her.

~At the guild with Lucy~~Lucys POV~

After that weird situation with the others I couldn't help but shake the feeling that they were hiding something from me. _**Oh well**_ i thought as I made my way to Fairy Tail _**I guess this gives me some time to think about what I am gonna do about him. I really want to tell him but I'm afraid he won't feel the same and even if he does can I really do that to her. I mean she is my friend after all and she really likes him but I can't help how I feel for him either.**_ This whole problem was starting to give me a headache.

Reaching the guild doors I was still a tad curious about what my friends were hiding from me but I decided to put it a side as I opened the doors to see a guild full of people. As I walked to the bar I was greeted by many people.

"Hey Lucy" the blue haired female greeted me. "Oh hey Levy" I happily said with a smile "So how are things with Gray and the others? Are you still upset about what had happened? she said with concern. "Oh no we resolved that the day I left on that job with you?" I said with a smile. "Yeah that morning as I was heading out Gray was at my door and well... long story short I explained why I was upset and he reassured me that no one could ever feel my spot" I explained. I decided to leave out the part where Gray and I had ended up holding hands for a short period of time because she would get excited and tell Mira and soon after all the girls in the guild would know and blow it all out of proportion "I guess I forgot to tell you about it because I had other things on my mind that day."

"Oh" that of course peeked Levys interest "What sort of things?" she asked. "I don't know Levy" I said in a more hushed tone. "To be honest I'm still trying to figure things out before I say anything to anyone." I tried to tell her. "Is it about a boy? Is he in the guild?" Letting out a sigh I nodded my head to let her know she was right. You should have seen the smile that stretched across her face at that very moment. Before she could ask me anything else I responded quickly saying "Levy for now that is all I can say. Please don't tell anyone what I just told you" I begged her.

"Come on Levy."Jet spoke "We gotta go." Droy speaking after. "Coming" Levy yelled with a smile. Though before she left she got close to me and whispered "Don't worry your secrets safe with me. I understand where your coming from." She glanced over to the other side of the guild and then back at me. My eyes followed her glance to see the iron dragon slayer there. I was so shocked "Please don't tell." she whispered before waving good bye.

"Lucy" Natsu shouted "We're here." _**Same old Natsu** I_ thought with a soft chuckle **_If he's not fighting he's shouting at someone_**"What took you g-" I didn't even get to finish my question before I was interrupted by a blue haired female and a white haired wizard. "Hey Natsu" Lisanna greeted the pink haired boy followed soon after with a hug. "H-Hey Gray" Juvia shyly greeted the ice make mage. I decided to give them a moment to talk as I walked over to the bar. After Mira brought me a glass of water I noticed Gray and of course Juvia were sitting next to me. "There you go again" Gray teased. "What do you mean?" I asked him a bit confused. "You're over here being anti-social so I thought I'd come over here. Juvia had agreed to come to." With a smile on my face I thanked them. Looking over at Juvia I greeted her with a smile only to recieve the same stare from her I normally get when I talk to Gray.

"So how about we go over to the request board and see if there's a job for all of us to go on." Gray said as he got up from his seat and I followed after him. Surprisingly Juvia didn't follow Gray and I. Looking back she just walked back over where Natsu, Lisanna, Happy and Erza were sitting. _**It's normally not like Juvia to leave Gray's side till he leaves for a job or leaves the guild hall**_"So which one do you think is best?" he asked knocking me out of my thoughts. I hadn't even looked them over yet and he was already asking me which one I wanted to do. "I don't know" I said trying to skim over all the requests. For some reason there were at least double the requests today. "I honestly can't decide. Why don't you pick."

I didn't know it at the time but once I said that an idea went off in his head. Watching Gray scan over the jobs again a certain expression of excitement showed on his face and with out even showing me he ripped it off of the board and folded in into his pocket. "W-Wait Gray" I said "Aren't you going to show me which one you picked" all of a sudden it was like he was a completely different person. "Don't worry Lucy." he said with a smile. Placing his hands on my shoulders he said "You will find out tomorrow. Now stay here a second so I can confirm this with Mira." With that said he walked over to Mira pulled the paper out of his pocket and whispered something in her ear. **_Why do I suddenly feel like there is something they aren't telling me_** at that point I was just so confused _**First it felt like I was being ignored and now they are keeping me out of the loop about something.**_At that point I figured the only thing I could do was wait and see what he was up to. He obviously wasn't going to tell me anything.

After he was done talking to Mira. He walked over to the table and whispered something into Erza's ear and after he got the nod from her he left. With out saying good bye or anything. I just figured he had things to do so I let it go and joined my friends.

After hours of talking and laughing with my friends I decided it was time to head home. On my way home that same guy in the boat warned me to be careful not to fall in the water. I assured him I was safe and kept walking. Finally after walking through my front door. I grabbed a towl and my pjs and went to go take a hot bath before I went to sleep. While I was in the bath I still couldn't decide if I wanted to tell him. The thought of his warm smile made my heard melt. I never thought liking a guy would be this hard.

About a half hour later I finished up my bath and figured it was time for bed. So I finished drying off. Putting on my pajamas I headed for bed. As I made my way to bed I suddenly noticed a dark figure laying on my couch. I couldn't make out who it was because it was so dark. Walking closer to the mysterious person I bent down to take a closer look and my uninvited guest. I was barely able to make out the fairy tail mark on his body. After that I knew exactly who it was but what I didn't know is how long had he been there to begin with. _**Oh well**_ i thought to myself lying in my bed _**I guess as long as he's already asleep there's no reason to wake him up**_ and with that I closed my eyes and went to bed.

~End Lucys POV~

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**That ends Chapter 3. Writing this chapter was really difficult for me because I was trying to come up with something other then "competition" but I had a real bad case of writers block. So I just figured I would explain it so every one could under stand what I was trying to do in this chapter. **

**Once I get an idea for chapter 4 I will start on it. I've kind of got one in mind but I'm gonna think about it a bit more so I'm not just guessing as I go. Thanks again for all the reviews. I really hope you enjoyed this chapter :)**


	4. The job request part 1

**Arthur Note: I don't own Fairy Tail**

**Here's part 1 of this chapter. Enjoy :D**

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The next morning after Lucy woke up and made her way to the bathroom. On her way she noticed her couch was now vacant meaning her guest was gone. **_Huh_** she thought _**I wonder where he went?**_ After entering the bathroom she was about to freshen up when she noticed a note on the mirror above the sink.

**Lucy, **

**I had to go to the guild for a while to finish up a few things. We are gonna be heading out for a job later today. Meet me at the guild when ever you are finished getting ready.**  
**-Gray**

After the blonde read the note. She was a bit curious about the job they were going on but decided to get dressed and just wait till she got to the guild to find out. After exiting the bathroom she put on a hot pink tank top and a black skirt and a pair of hot pink heels. _**Knowing those guys it's probably some dangerous job where they will end up destroying stuff in the process**_ she thought to herself as she finished putting her hair up. After she finished getting ready she left to meet Gray at the guild hall.

~Back at the guild with Gray~

"Come on Gray" Alzack said "The mission you're going on is way more suited for Bisca and I."

Both guns magic users had been in the guild yesterday sitting about a seat away from where Gray was when he was whispering to Mira. Curious about what the ice make mage was up to they decided to ask Mira.

~Flashback to yesterday after Gray left~

"Mira" Bisca called out getting Miras attention.

"Hey Bisca, Alzack" the white haired female greeted happily "Do you need something?"

"What was Gray whispering to you about?" the green haired female asked with curiosity

"Oh that" she smiled "He was just letting me know about a job he planned on taking tomorrow."

"Well" Alzack said "What's so special about this job that he's trying to keep a secret."

"You see" Mira explained "For that job it is a two person job. The request asked for it to be a male and a female. Apparently a wealthy man sent the request because he has been receiving many threats from someone about them threatening to take the mans daughter the night of the ball he's going to be throwing. So he put this request out so that the two wizards will blend in with everyone else and when the moment comes where they try to take the girl they will be there to stop him."

"So who ever had taken that job request would have to pretend to be a couple and dance together?" Bisca asked with a blush appearing on her face. Just imagining her and Alzack as boyfriend and girlfriend even if it was acting made her heart race.

"Yeah" the take over user responded. "So" Alzack asked with a slight blush on his face "Who is Gray taking?"

"You know" Mira paused thinking back "I don't know."

"So he took a job but didn't say who he was taking along with him." Alzack said a bit surprised "Who do you think it could be?"

"Maybe Juvia" Bisca said. Making the water users face light up. "Maybe he's taking Lucy or Erza" the white haired wizard voiced. "I guess we will just have to wait and see" with that Mira walked off to get another guild member a drink.

**_Bisca and I would be better suited for that job_** Alzack though to himself _**Maybe I can convince Gray to give the job to me.**_

~End Flashback~

"I'm sorry Alzack but I've already made up my mind" Gray said calmly.

"But you don't even have a partner"the male gun magic user tried to argue "so why are you taking this job?"

"Actually I do have a partner in mind" Gray protested.

From a far distance Juvia could hear his conversation and her heart started beating faster. **_Gray my love_** Juvia thought **_Juvia would love to go with you_** in her mind was imagening Gray and herself. She's wore a blue gown with blue shoes and Gray was shirtless but wearing dress pants and dress shoes. _**Juvia**_ he spoke with a blush on his face. _**I know this has started out as just pretend but lets make it a reality.**_

"I'm taking Lucy with me on this job." Hearing those words come from her beloveds mouth made her angry. _**Gray is taking Lucy. Why my love?** _Just as she was started to erase the thought of Lucy being her love rival Grays words made her change her mind. Now more then ever Juvia saw Lucy as an even bigger threat in the game of winning Grays heart.

"Why are you taking Lucy? No offense I know she's strong but wouldn't someone like Erza be better suited for this?" Alzack asked.

But before Gray could give the male his reasons the guild doors opened to reveal Lucy, Natsu and Happy flying behind them. The two were happily talking and greeting people along the way. Happy had found Charle and went to spend some time with her. "Hi Juvia" Lucy greeted with a smile and a wave only to receive a fearsome glare in return. "Geez Luce" noticing the look Juvia had gave the blonde Natsu said in a some what hushed tone "What'd you do to her? She seems really pissed at you." Confused about it herself all she could say was "I don't know." A few feet away from Gray Lucy waved as her and Natsu walked closer to him.

"Hey stripper" Natsu teased the ice make mage seeing as he had some how stripped down to his underwear with in the short time it took them to get to him. "Seriously Gray" Lucy said in an annoyed tone "Your clothes!" Looking down Grays eyes widened when he realized his almost naked appearance. "When did that happen?" he questioned as he quickly put his clothes back on. "So" the pink haired mage spoke again "What is this job you got picked out for us? Is it another job where I get to beat bad guys and continue bein awesome?" he said with a joking grin.

"Actually Natsu. You aren't coming on this job." Gray stated making Lucy and Natsus eyes widen. "W-What do you mean I can't go?" the dragon slayer said with disbelief. "It's just like I said idiot. You can't come" his tone getting a bit angrier. "Who are you calling an idiot you damn pervert." Natsu argued his fist now clenched and flames surround it. "Who are you calling a pervert ash brains" Gray yelled back his fist was placed on his palm ready to use his ice make magic as soon as he could. But before they could start another one of their fights Erza was standing in front of them. "Whats going on you two" she demanded "W-Well" both boys tried to give the scarlet haired female an answer but they were so struck with fear they couldn't finish their sentence. "You see Erza" Lucy butted in "Natsu got upset because Gray told him he couldn't come on this job with us."

Remembering what Gray had came up and talked to her about the day before an idea popped into her head "Natsu Gray is right. You can't go on this job." Hearing the same words come from Erza confused the two of them again. "Natsu you can't go because the master has something important for us to do." She knew it was a lie but getting him to back off for now so she could explain to him the real reason why later was all that mattered. She just couldn't believe how even though they had talked about it the day prior he still managed to forget. "So you're not going either Erza?" the blonde asked. "Nope" Erza quickly responded "I'll be sitting this one out too. Don't worry though"she reassured Lucy and a wink directed towards Gray letting him know she had everything under control "I'm sure you and Gray can handle it."

With a huff Natsu followed Erza but not before he went back over to Lucy. "Tomorrow can we hang out?" he whispered as she nodded her head yes. With another goofy smile on his face he whispered again, "And tomorrow the pervert over there isn't invited." That caused Lucy to let out a soft chuckle as Natsu walked over to Happy who was still talking to Charle and Wendy. Leaving Lucy and Gray to talk about the job request.

"So" Lucy said as she took a seat next to Gray "What's this job you have picked out for us?" After pulling out the folded paper from his pocket he placed it in front of her so she could read it. Lucys eyes widened as she read it. "Why do you want me to go on something like this?" she asked "Wouldn't this be better for someone like Erza?"

"Well it's simple Lucy" he started explaining "this ball is being thrown by a very wealthy man." She spoke again interrupting him "Yeah, yeah I read that part but why me?"

"Well the ball being thrown by a wealthy man means there are going to be a lot of wealthy men and women. I've heard that wealthy people are quite elegant. And Lucy you have a certain elegance about you that Erza doesn't" he said with a smile. Hearing the complement come from her friends mouth made a slight blush appear on her face.

"Plus didn't you hear Erza earlier." the ice make user spoke again "Gramps needed her and Natsu to help him with something important so either way she couldn't come."

"Yeah you're right" Lucy said "So when do we have to leave?"

"Well the town is a train ride away and the guy wants to meet us early so he can explain everything and make sure we are properly dressed. So we should probably head out now." Gray explained the details to the blonde.

"Alright" Lucy said sounding a bit excited "Lets go!" and with that the two ran out the guild.

~With Natsu and Erza~~Erzas POV~

"So what does Gramps need us to do?" Natsu asked me. I decided our talk wasn't something that could be discussed in the guild hall because someone might over hear. So I decided to take him to the females dorm I lived in. Since I rented out 5 of the rooms I knew that was the perfect place.

After entering my room I sat Natsu down and explained everything "Natsu don't you remember one of the things we discussed when we were going over the guidelines?"

"Um..." the pink haired male tried to think back "I remember you telling us something about the days of the week."

"Exactly" I spoke as I sat down. "We decided that you and Gray would have specific days of the week not including Sunday to spend alone time with Lucy to see which one of you she liked. And today is Grays day. Gray had came to me yesterday when he discovered the request informing me of his plans."

~Flashback~

I had been sitting at one of the tables in the guild talking to Cana about trying to cut down her drinking when I was suddenly approached by my dark haired teammate. He leaned in close to my ear and whispered, "I picked out a job for Lucy and I for tomorrow. I picked out especially for tomorrow. Can you make sure you keep Natsu busy. Knowing him he won't remember."

When I gave him a nod and a small smile he walked out of the guild.

"Huh?" Cana looked a bit confused "What was that about Erza? It's not like Gray to be keeping secrets". Knowing full well I couldn't tell her I decided to dance around it and turn it back to her excessive drinking answer her, "Oh it's nothing Cana. Now back to what we were talking about before..."

~End flashback~

"So tomorrow is my turn with Lucy right?" Natsu asked

Nodding my head I was a tad curious to know if he had anything planned and it's not me to beat around the bush so I just flat out asked him, "So Natsu, do you have anything in mind for tomorrow?"

"No" he flat out answered. Not that I was to surprised. Natsu was never one to plan a head. He's always been the plan as I go type.

"Come on Happy" Natsu said with excitement in his voice as he ran out the door "Let's go and plan something fun for Lucy tomorrow." Following not to far behind the cat responded, "Aye sir" and with that the two were gone.

~End Erzas POV~~Back to Lucy and Gray~~Normal POV~

Lucy and Gray had arrived at their destination and were now seated in front of the man that had requested the job. The man looked to be about mid 30s. In the right light you could say he kind of looked like an older version of Laxus but with out the scar, he had jet black hair and a little less muscle.

"So you are the wizards who are going to protect my daughter?" the man said as he looked at Lucy then at Gray. "Are the two of you sure you can act like a couple. Looking at the two of you right now it makes me a bit unsure."

"Don't worry about that" Gray spoke with confidence "You can count on fairy tail to get the job done and when the time comes we will make it look like we are a believable couple."

"That's what I like to hear young man" the man happily said "Because my precious daughter is going to be turning 10 tonight and to celebrate that day I am throwing her a ball." Suddenly his voice sounded sad and depressed as he continued, "However a few days after I started planning for this we started receiving many threats from an anonymous source saying they were going to take my daughter the night of the party." So immediately I started searching for a guild that could help me. One day I was in the study when I had over heard some of the staff talking about a guild called Fairy Tail and some of the amazing things they had accomplished. So I figured it was the best choice to turn to."

Hearing how much the man loved his daughter made her think back to her childhood when her dad ignored her. It made her feel for the man. He didn't want to lose his daughter. He wanted to protect her and keep her safe. Something her dad never did. She was determined to keep this family safe at all costs. "Don't worry. We will make sure no harm comes to you or your daughter." the blonde spoke with confidence.

"Thank you" the man said with much appreciation as tears streamed down his face. After wiping his tears the man started talking again. "Now since the ball is tonight my staff has prepared both of you a room for you to stay and relax in till the party" the mans hand guided the two to where the two maids were standing as they waited."Also inside your room is the outfit you will be wearing for the party. I have set up a special lunch for the two of you so you can prepare yourselves to look and act like a real couple. Finally before you eat I would like for the two of you to try the outfits on so the tailor can fit the clothes so they will look presentable. I know this is all last minute but I am counting on you." With that the man was finished talking and the maids were showing Gray and Lucy to their rooms. The rooms were right across from each other and as the door shut behind them they started changing into the clothes they would be wearing tomorrow.

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**I hope everyone enjoys part one of this chapter. I was going to make this one long chapter but I don't know how long finishing the rest will take so I decided to break it up into two parts. Part two is currently in progress and will be up as soon as possible.**


	5. The job request part 2

**Like always I dont own fairy tail :( but I'd like to think everyone for all the reviews :) I hope everyone enjoys**

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~In Lucys room~

She had already changed into her gown and the tailor was just checking to make sure anything else needed to be fixed. The only problem they could find was that it was a bit snug in the bust area but other then that the dress fit her amazingly. It was a beautiful red halter gown, with a black shawl the gown did wonders for her curves. Hiding her Fairy Tail stamp they decided to complement the dress with black wrist length gloves, black heels and a red ribbon in her hair. The staff couldn't believe how breath taking the blonde looked. After she was done she changed back into her regular clothes while the tailor worked on the bust of the dress. While she was sitting on the bed one of the maids came up to Lucy, "Excuse me miss" the maid said timidly as Lucy gave the maid her complete attention "I'm sorry to interrupt but a couple of us were just wondering. I-Is that man you came with...y-your boyfriend?" the maid couldn't help but ask the question what most of the staff was thinking.

"What?" Lucy replied a bit shocked at the question she had just been asked "N-No Gray and I are just friends" she said with a blush on her face. "Pardon me for prying it's just that some of us felt a sort of vibe between the two of you but we weren't sure." the maid apologized. After trying on the dress once more to make sure the bust was just right the tailor and the maids left.

~In Grays room~

Gray had just finished trying on his tuxedo and it didn't take long for the tailor to finish up with him since the tux basically fit the male just right. After everyone left his room Gray started thinking about everything that was going on. Lying on the bed he started thinking back to when they discovered Lucy liked one of the two. Just in that short period of time the two were now trying to get her to work up the courage to tell who it was. And when she decided to tell who ever it was that she liked him _**How would this effect all of us as a team?**_he thought.

~That after noon~

Lucy and Gray had just finished eating the delicious meal that the chef had made for them. "Lucy" Gray spoke as he set his fork on his plate "Maybe now we should practice how we plan on acting at the ball tonight."

"O-Ok" Lucy agreed a bit nervous. She had never been in a relationship before so she didn't really know how to act. "So what should we do first?"

"Well for one we would have to spend the majority of the party holding hands." Standing up he walked over helping the blonde out of her chair and gently intertwined their fingers together. "Or I could do this?" un tangling their hands he moved his hand around her waist.

Feeling a blush appear on her face from the close contact she tried to act like it didn't effect her she asked "So do you know how to dance?" Gray nodded his head and showed her a few dance moves he knew. After a few hours of getting their rhythm together with the help of Lyra and her music. The pair felt more then ready to complete this job.

~Time for the Ball~~Lucys POV~

After I finished getting ready I looked over at the clock and realized it was time to get head downstairs. Opening the door I saw Gray leaning against the wall. He wore a black suit with a blue dress shirt on under it. The whole outfit really complimented his features. He seemed like he was deep in thought because he didn't even look over at me when I opened the door.

**_I wonder what he's thinking about?_ **I thought before tapping his shoulder "Um...Gray are you ready?" I asked.

As his gaze was now directed at me instead of the flood for some reason he just kind of looked at me with a sort of shocked expression. I didn't know why he was looking at me that way. **_Did I get something on the dress?_ **I thought as I nervously looked down inspecting my dress. After seeing that the dress was fine I looked back to see the still speechless ice mage staring at me. "Gray" I asked. Hearing me call his name seemed to have brought him back "Are you ok?"

"Y-Yeah" he said. I didn't know what had just happened to him just now and I doubt he was going to tell me so I decided to ignore it. Gently intertwining his fingers with mine we walked down the hallway until the sound of music got louder. "Make sure to be on guard." Gray said before he opened the door.

Walking into what seemed to be an over sized dining room. I was so amazed at what I saw. Not only was the dining room unusually huge but is was beautifully lit and the decorations were just breath taking. I stood there for a minute in awe before we we're greeted by the man who had requested us. "So" the man said as he turned his head to the many glance at the room and then back at us with a smile "What do you think?".

"It's beautiful" i said with a sort of amazed tone. I couldn't believe someone could have this big of a room in their house. I mean I know I grew us rich and the Heartfilia estate was huge but we didn't have a room this big in our home.

"Great you two enjoy yourselves and remember keep my daughter safe." the man talked as Gray and I walked further into the room. "My daughter should be making her entrance any moment."

Finding a table Gray pulled my chair out for me and we sat down . We were immediately approached by waiters one had drinks and the other had a tray of appetizers. After Gray grabbed two drinks off of the tray and handed one to me. We had just passed on the appetizers when suddenly the room went dark. Next thing I knew there was a spot light on the shining down on the hallway to reveal the adorable little girl. She had jet black hair like her father. She wore a beautiful purple dress that had a bow on the back. She had a small tiara on her head and she had purple flats on her feet. She was then greeted by a little boy about the same age as her and they walked along side each other to a table her father had decorated just for her. The table we were seated at was far enough distance away from the girl to where we would be able to reach her if anything were to happen and she was in our sight at all times.

Suddenly while Gray and I were in the middle of a conversation we were approached by a beautiful couple. The woman was tall with blue eyes, had long blonde hair and she wore a long sleek black dress with black heels and the man had black hair and brown eyes. He was very handsome. He wore a black tux with a white dress shirt under it.

"Um excuse me" the women spoke "Pardon me for interrupting but do I know you? Your face seems very familiar."

Gray looked at me as I responded to the womans question. "I don't believe so." i replied "You must have me confused with someone else."

"Ok. Oh shoot where are my manners today " the woman said with a soft giggle. "I'm Hikari and this is my husband Hiroshi"

"I'm Lu-" I was about to introduce myself when Gray gave my hand a light squeeze. Glancing over at him he leaned forward to make it look like he was giving me a kiss on my cheek but he whispered, "Fake names." Smiling back at him I continued what I was saying to the couple still standing in front of the table. " I'm L-Leiko and this is my boyfriend Tsuyoshi."

"Well it was nice to meet you two. Sorry for interrupting" as she was about to walk away she quickly added "Oh and by the way you two make an adorable couple" with another smile the two walked away.

*Hikari and Hiroshi's conversation as they were going back to their table**Normal POV*

"See sweetheart" Hiroshi said as he wrapped his arm around his wife "I told you it wasn't her."

"It's just hard to believe" Hikari said with a bit of sadness in her voice. "I mean she looks so much like her."

"I know dear" Hiroshi spoke in a comforting tone "What'd you say your friends name was again?"

"Layla Heartfilia" the woman spoke "She died some time ago. Before she died I used to talk with her all the time and she always told me about her daughter and how wonderful she was. I had always hoped to meet her but was always busy with something. I thought for sure that girl was her. I wonder if I'll ever get to meet her."

*Back with Lucy and Gray**Lucys POV*

"Nice names you came up with Leiko" Gray teased. "Do you even know anyone named Leiko?"

"Give me a break" I said a bit annoyed. It's not like Gray to tease me. That's more of happys doing when we are out on job requests. "It was what came to mind at the last moment."

"How could you forget?"Gray asked "We talked about it earlier today at lunch. Maybe that Flame Brain is rubbing off on you a bit to much."

"At least I'm not taking my clothes off all the time" I stuck my tongue out as I tried to tease him back. **_I'm actually surprised he hasn't stripped like he normally would._ **I thought **_But then again if he did that would show the fairy tail mark on his chest and that would give us away so I'm thankful he hasn't._** Before I knew it Gray was next to my ear. I didn't know why he was so close all of a sudden but there he was.

"Be careful " he softly whispered causing a blush to appear on my face and I could feel goose bumps on my arms. /_**ince when did he call me by my last name.**_ "Actions such as that aren't very lady like. You might blow the job for us." Sitting back his chair I saw a smug smirk on his face. Before I could say anymore I noticed the girl and her friend get up and walk to the dance floor.

"Let's Dance" I quickly said as I practically jumped out of my chair and dragged Gray to the dance floor with me.

~In a dark closet somewhere in the house~*Normal POV*

"Are you sure those two are the wizards?" The mysterious figure asked.

"I didn't hear much but from what I had over heard from the maids was that the bastard hired some mages from Fairy Tail." The other figure spoke. "I don't remember his face all that well but I'd recognize face any where."

"What luck." An evil smirk appeared on Itamis face. "Now not only will we kidnap the girl and bleed this man dry of every penny he has but we can pay those bastards in Fairy Tail back for what they did to us a while back."

"Alright lets go back to the party" Hakai spoke. "It's time."

"You got it" Itami nodded in agreement and the two left the dark closet.

*Back to the Party*

It had been about an hour since the pair had started dancing and they couldn't help but enjoy themselves. Even though it was a mission they were having fun. Unlike when they took the job request at the theater and had to fill in as actors.

Suddenly everyone in the room started getting tired and not to long after one by one they all started passing out where they stood. Suddenly the two men appeared. One wearing a tux (Hakai) while the other one was dressed in a waiter outfit (Itami). Walking through the crowd of passed out people they walked to the dance floor where they stood next to Lucy and Gray who were passed out on the floor near the girl.

With an evil smirk on their faces Hakai spoke "Even with these fairy bastards here they couldn't do much. It's a wonder that they beat us the first time."

"They got lucky the first time. We've only gotten stronger since then." Itami spoke as he walked towards the girl and picked her up off the floor throwing her over his shoulders. "And with this girl we can re-establish Phantom and make it the guild that it once was."

"Lets take her to the magic four wheeler and then we will come back and take care of these two Fairy idiots." Hakai instructed as the two started walking down the hallway.

"Maybe we should tie them up and bring them along" Itami suggested "Pay those jerks back for breaking up Phantom Lord. Make them beg us for our forgiveness." Thinking about Lucy and Gray begging them to let them go and praising Phantom made two chuckle.

"Hold it right there!" they heard a voice shout causing them to cease their laughter.

"Who's there?" Hakai shouted "Show yourself!"

Suddenly Horologuim landed in front of the men and inside of him was Lucy and Gray. "Where do you think you are going with her?" Lucy asked as she got out of Horologuim with Gray following behind her.

"W-Wait a minute!" Itami said a bit startled that the two wizards were standing in front of them "How are you here when we just passed by the two of you and you were passed out on the floor."

"I used my ice make magic to make ice dummies of Lucy and I" Gray explained "Now why are you trying to kidnap this girl?"

"Well it's quite simple" Hakai started explaining "We are going to hold this girl hostage until we bleed every cent from her father so we can re-establish Phantom Lord"

"W-What?" Lucy said shocked "You guys are from Phantom? But I thought Phantom broke up after we beat them."

"You are correct Ms. Hearfilia." Hakai continued talking "Fairy Tail did succeed in breaking up our guild and most of its members joined other guilds after the incident however the spirit of Phantom never left us and we want to bring our guild back and make it the glorious guild it once was before your guild destroyed it."

"We won't let you take her" Gray spoke with determination "Your guild did this almost exact same thing when you tried to take Lucy away from us. We won't let that happen to this girl as well. Right Lucy?"

"Right. We will protect her as if she is a member of our own guild." Lucy agreed "Now open Gate of the Golden Bull: Taurus" As the bull appeared hearts appeared in his eyes "Luuuucy your hot body always moooooves me. I will make sure no harms comes to your smokin' body."

"Lucy" Gray shouted as he took off his shirt "You take the one holding the girl. Leave this one to me."

"You got it." She agreed as she chased the man down a different hallway.

~Grays Fight with Hakai~

"Ice Make..." Gray shouted as he put his fist to his palm and ice started forming "Hammer!"

Suddenly a huge hammer made of ice appeared and was thrusted at Hakai. It seemed like it had hit him successfully until out of no where he saw something come towards him. Quickly creating an ice shield to dodge the attack.

"Ah yes Gray Fullbuster" Hakai spoke appearing unharmed from Grays first attack. "I had heard many things about you and your ice magic from old guild members. They spoke of how you single handedly beat our former element four member Juvia. I so wish I had been there the day that Fairy Tail attacked our guild but at the time Itami and I had just left for a job. Oh well now I can get revenge back for my guild. Shadow magic: Shadow Pull."

Suddenly a shadow shaped as a hand appeared behind Gray and grabbed him leaving him unable to get away. As the distance between the two was closing in Hakai used more of his shadow magic. "Shadow magic: Shadow Fist."

After taking the hit the ice make mage was sent flying back into a wall. After shaking off the hit the dark haired mage got up and again using his ice magic created ice blades jutting back from both of his forearms and he dashed at Hakai with such a speed that he didn't have time to dodge the hit. With it being a direct hit multiple times it was Hakai who was sent flying into a near by wall. With multiple attacks being thrown at each other and it seemed as if the two were at a stalemate.

As both wizards were covered in bruises and cuts both were almost at their magic limit Gray decided that it was either now or ever. Using the last bit of his magic he cooked up a plan that would hopefully work. With the combination of his "Ice make:Floor" Suddenly covering the floor with ice Gray was able to increase his speed to the point where Hakai was having some trouble keeping up with him. Next he used "Ice Make: Saucer" causing the large disk to speed towards Hakai which he barely avoided. While trying to catch Hakai off guard the ice make mage quickly used his magic to make his "Ice make: Lance" extending his arms forward, he created long, curved ice lances and hurled them towards Hakai, trying to impaling him. While some of them grazed Hakai it was enough to slow the mans movements more enough for the ice wizard to once again use "Ice Blade: Seven Slice Dance." Using the ice covering the floor he ran towards Hakai with the ice blades jutting from his forearms he rapidly slashed the man many times dealing the final blow.

After restraining Hakai the dark haired mage walked to the next hallway dragging Hakai behind him where Gray was shocked at what he saw. Itami was passed out on the floor, the little girl was being carried by Virgo and not only that but Loki was standing in front of annoyed Lucy once again using his "Light of Love" with the words 'I Love Lucy' flashing in it.

Walking towards them Gray spoke "Nice work you guys".

As Lucy turned around Gray was now standing next to her. "Still up to your old tricks I see" the ice make mage joked to Loke.

"It was the power of Love that helped me beat this guy. Right Lucy?" Loke spoke with a flirtatious tone towards the celestial wizard while sweeping her up into his arms.

"Give me a break." Lucy said with a blush on her face and a semi annoyed tone in her voice. Wiggling her way out of his arms she walked over to Gray who took the girl from Virgo. "Thanks for your help Virgo."

"Will you punish me Princess?" Virgo asked

"NO!" Lucy shouted. With that Virgo took her departure back to the celestial world.

"Farewell Lucy" Loke said with placing a quick and unexpected kiss on the blondes cheek causing her to blush. "Later Gray" Loke said taking his leave back to the celestial world.

"Seems like he's becoming very fond of you" Gray joked.

"S-Shut up" Lucy angrily shouted. Changing the subject "So when do you think she will wake up?"

"She shouldn't be asleep for to much longer." Gray stated "I'd say her and the rest of the guests should wake up with in the next half hour or so. We should head back to the room." After getting a nod from Lucy they made their way back to the dining room with Lucy carrying the girl and Gray dragging the two men.

~Back at the dining room~

Everyone had finally woken up and headed back home and the Magic council was taking away Hakai and Itami into custody.

"Thank you so much Fairy Tail wizards" the girls father said with much appreciation. "I knew I could count on the two of you to keep my precious daughter safe from those wizards."

"You're welcome" Lucy said with a smile "Sorry about the damage that we caused to your home." her smile suddenly turned to a frown **_He's probably going to take most of our reward to pay for the damages_** Lucy thought with a depressed sigh _**Bye bye rent money**_

The damage that occurred during Lucys fight was minor however the results from Grays fight were very damaging to the hallway. There was a hold in the wall from where his Ice saucer crashed through. The walls had indents where Gray and Hakai had been pushed into plus small holes where his some of his ice lances pierced. If Natsu had been there more then likely the whole house would have been destroyed.

"No need to apologize about the damages my dear." the man spoke "You did what you had to do to save my daughter and for that I am grateful. Here is your reward as promised."

"Are you serious" Lucy said shocked "You're giving us the whole reward even though we damaged your house?"

"Of course" the man said with a smile "Your job was to protect my daughter and you completed it. Some damage is expected in this kind of situation right? So I won't hold it against Fairy Tail for doing your job."

"Thank you" Gray and Lucy said with much appreciation in their voice.

After changing back into their regular clothes Gray and Lucy said their finally good byes to the man and his daughter and left for the train station. The man offered them a ride to the train station in his car as another way of saying thanks. The mans chauffeur drove the two.

"Thank you" Lucy said suddenly causing Gray to look at her a bit confused.

"What are you thanking me for" the ice mage asked.

"Well" she let out a soft sigh before continuing "after everything that had happened with Lisanna and everyone. I really appreciated taking this job with you."

"I told you Lucy" Gray spoke "You are and always will be apart of our team. You are very important to us."

"Well anyways I had fun." She said with a smile on her face. Without thinking about it she suddenly went in and hugged Gray causing the ice mage to blush.

Just then the car came to a stop and the driver turned around to inform the two that they had reached their destination. After thinking the driver and getting on the train Lucy decided to rest until they got back to Magnolia. Gray on the other hand spent the train ride lost in his own thoughts. When the train was almost to Magnolia Gray glanced over at Lucy

_**Lucy**_ Gray thought glancing over at the blonde with a small smile on his face _**I had fun today too.**_

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**Sorry this chapter took longer to write. I kept getting distracted with things. As this story progresses its taking me longer to come up with something that I hope everyone will enjoy.**

**I did base Hakai off of Kageyama from the Lullaby arc. I tried to make the fight between him and Gray as best as I could. Writing fight scenes isn't really a strong point of mine. The next chapter is Natsus Day :) What does he have planned? Only time will tell.**

**Side note: If anyone would like to voice your opinion on what you'd like to see Natsu or Gray do on their days with Lucy. Let me know in a review or a private message. I'd like to hear from you. Who knows maybe you might see your idea in a future chapter. Until then I'll be working on the next chapter :)**


	6. Natsu's Day part 1

**Arthurs Note: I am very sorry for the late update. I started watching a couple of different animes and once I get hooked on an anime I can't stop watching it but the chapters finally here..well part one anyways. I hope you enjoy **

**I do not own Fairt Tail**

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_**Come on Natsu think!**_ the fire mage thought a bit frustrated _**What can I do tomorrow with Lucy that she would enjoy? **_

While Lucy and Gray were gone on that job Natsu had decided to come up with something fun for him and Lucy to do since he still felt bad about ignoring her plus Tuesday was his day after all. He had tried to come up with ideas at the guild hall but for one it just as noisy as always and two Lisanna was there and even though he enjoyed her company she was making him lose his train of thought. So he went to the place that he knew he could always go to where there would be no noise. Even though he knew she wasn't home Lucys house was always the place he could go to whether it be to work out, sleep or hang out. Her house always gave him a sort of comfort that he relied on.

He had come up with a few ideas but he always figured he could do something better. You know Natsu everything he does always has to be done with 100%. This was no exception Lucy was his best friend after all. He didn't really know his feelings for her clearly. He had never put much thought into it because he thought she only saw him as a friend. But after finding out she could possibly have feeling for him made him think more seriously about the matter and he was going to his this time to try and figure it out. He figured three possible scenarios to how it could play out. 1. If she chose him and he didn't feel the same he would hurt her feelings and after the whole deal with Lisanna he never wanted to see her like that again. 2. If she chose Gray and Natsu ended up liking her in the process it could more then likely make things weird. Finally 3. If they ended up having the same feelings things could possibly end up going great. Who knew how it would turn out. But Lucy held all the cards and she doesn't even know it.

"Maybe we could spend the day trying to dig up those embarrassing pictures of everyone" he thought out loud. "But I doubt she will after what happened last time."

~Flashback~~Natsus POV~ 

I had been pestering Lucy all day about meeting me in the south gate park. I didn't tell her why because I wanted it to be a surprise. I figured once she got there and realized what we were gonna do she would be just as excited as I was. For some reason she had been acting weird all day. I figured she might be getting sick because every time I talked to her a red tent would suddenly appear on her cheeks but she never mentioned anything about feeling sick so I just let it slide.

That night at South gate park I arrived to see no sign of Lucy. It seemed like she was running late so I tried to start with out her but with the ground being as hard as it was I really needed Virgo to dig it for me other wise it would take to long. A few minutes later Lucy finally showed up. For some reason she looked a bit nervous.

"Hey, Lucy" I greeted my blonde friend with my usual grin.

"Yes?" she replied nervously

I had a feeling she had something else on her mind but I didn't ask because I was to focused on the task at hand.

"You're Late!" I said as I pulled out my shovel and started digging "Get that maid out already! What's her name again? Lets see...right, Virgo."

For some reason she gave me this dumbfounded look while I talked to her. While I was trying to dig through the hard ground she started talking about something but I didn't really pay any attention to her.

Still staring at me with confusion she asked, "And what was the important thing you wanted to ask me?"

Looking around to make sure no one was listening I gave her a mischievous smile as I explained, "I hear there's buried treasure here! It's supposed to be an album of embarrassing pictures of everyone in Fairy Tail! I heard, Gramps hid it here a long time ago! Doesn't that sound like fun?" As I finished explaining everything to here I was hoping to get an excited reaction from her as well but as I started picking at the hard ground again she mumbled something to me but I didn't hear her.

"You were saying I want to see her, I want to see her everywhere" the blonde stated.

I had been excited about getting my hands on these photos I couldn't keep it in as I walked through out the guild. "It's not like I care one way or another, but it was Virgo" I simply answered back. After I told her that I was wanting Virgo to dig the hole for me she got this really dazed look on her face and shortly after that she seemed mad about something. Maybe she thought there was a picture of her in there. I don't know but all of a sudden...

*SLAP*

She slapped me out of no where. As I was left in a daze as to why she suddenly felt the need to leave the red hand print across my face she quickly ran off.

~End Flashback~~Still Natsu's POV~

"I don't think I wanna try that again" I said out loud still remembering how painful it was the first time.

"Natsu!" the blue cat shouted as he flew in the window. "Lisanna's been looking everywhere for you."

"What for?" I asked plainly. I cared for Lisanna a lot but right now I just needed some time to think.

"She didn't say" he responded, "Why are you here anyways? Didn't Lucy take that job with Gray?"

"Yeah she should be back later but I just needed some alone time to think about what Lucy and I could do tomorrow."

"You llllllllike her" Happy teased.

"Its not that. I want to make it up to her for the whole Lisanna issue." I explained "Plus since it's my day tomorrow Erza and that idiot ice head can't bother us. But I can't think of anything."

"Why don't we all go fishing?" Happy suggested with a mouthful of fish. _**And I can eat another one of those tasty fish. It was so big just thinking about it makes my mouth water**_

"That's not a bad idea Happy but there's only one problem..." I paused for a minute before i continued. "Lucy doesn't like to eat fish as much as we do."

After thinking for a minute a light bulb went off in Happys head "Why don't we ask Mira to pack Lucy a lunchbox."

"That's a great idea" As i got up off of Lucys bed I started heading towards the window. "Come on Happy lets go to the guild and talk to Mira. We'll surprise Lucy tomorrow"

"Aye" Happy cheerfully replied as he flew after him.

~End Natsus POV~~Later that Night~~Lucys POV~

The train had arrived home at about one in the morning. After walking me home we said our good byes and Gray left for his house. The walk to my house had been a silent one. Gray seemed distracted by something the whole time seeing as he only said a couple of words here and there. When I asked him if he was alright he gave me a half smile saying he was fine just a bit tired. I figured he was because we had a long day and he didn't nap on the train ride back. But I knew something else had to have been bothering him.

After I closed my front door I was surprised to see that my house was empty for once. Normally I had a certain pink haired guest sleeping in my bed but today he wasn't there. _**He must have spent the day with Lisanna **_I thought as I headed towards the bathroom to take a much needed relaxing bath.

After my bath I sat down at my desk, pulled out a piece of paper and started writing.

**Dear Mom, **

**Gray and I went out on a job today. It requested for a male and female wizard so Natsu, Happy and Erza didn't come. I don't know why he chose that kind of mission but it turned out to be fun. We had to pretend to be a couple and save this guys daughter. It turned out to be some old members from the guild dad had hired a long time ago who were wanting to try and get the guild back up. After we stopped them I thought the man wasn't going to pay us because Gray had caused some damage to his house, but the man was so grateful that his daughter was safe that he paid us the reward without giving it a second thought. **

**Things at the guild are the pretty much as hectic as always. I'm not upset with Natsu, Gray and Erza anymore. After they found out Gray came to talk to me and of course Natsu barged in not to long after. They are annoying but at the same time they are great friends. Lately though it seems like they are up to something. **

**I still can't bring myself to talk to him and tell him how I feel. I try to talk myself into just walking up to him and telling him but then the image of her hurt face and the possibility of him not feeling the same way brings all those fears right back to the surface and I decide that its just better to keep it to myself. I know if you were here mom you would tell me to follow my heart because you always wanted me to be happy. But you know mom... **

I stopped writing for a minute letting out an exhausted yawn before I continued.

_**I truly think that I could be happy with him.**_

After I finished sealing up the letter I put it in the brown box with all the other letters and I went to sleep.

~End Lucys POV~~The Next Day~~Normal POV~

It was early in the morning and a certain blonde was still passed out and Natsu and his blue haired feline friend were in her house waiting for her to wake up.

"Natsu" the cat quietly wined "Lucy still isn't up. We were supposed to go fishing today remember."

"Well what do think I should do?" The fire mage asked

"Wake her up with your fire" Happy suggested "Make her butt sting like Aquarius does when Lucy drops her key."

"Good thinking Happy" Natsu said with a maniacal smirk.

Just as the fire mage had covered his hands in flames Lucys eyes slowly opened. Though she was still laying away from the fire wizard for that moment she had no clue what was about to happen. Feeling hot for some unknown reason the blonde slowly rolled over only to discover Natsu leaned over with his hand covered in flames.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Lucy shouted as she stared at Natsus hand seeing it only inches from where she was laying.

"Oh good you're awake" Natsu said cheerfully

"OF COURSE IM AWAKE" the celestial wizard continued shouting in anger "WHY IS YOUR HAND COVERED IN FLAMES?"

"Because I'm a fire wizard" Natsu said plainly.

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!" Lucy now shouting in aggravation.

"We were gonna wake you up." Happy chimed

"What to you mean you were gonna wake me up?" She asked a bit calmer now.

"Well Happy and I came to visit." Natsu explained.

"But when we got here you were still asleep" Happy spoke interrupting Natsu "So we decided that Natsu could use his fire magic to make your butt sting a little so you would get up."

"What!" Lucy said shocked.

"Well now that you're awake let's go" Natsus voice now sounding excited.

"Where are we going?" Lucy asked a bit confused.

"Fishing in the East forest" Happy answered happily.

"Can't you guys go without me?" She complained "I was gonna work on my novel today plus I don't even like fish so."

"Why would you want to write your novel indoors? A change of pace will help get those creative juices flowing." Natsu explained.

"I don't need a change of pace." Lucy argued "Why don't you take Lisanna I'm sure she'd love to go."

That last sentence sent a wave of pain in Natsus heart. _**I need to make her see she's just as important to us as Lisanna is**_ Natsu thought to himself.

"I don't want Lisanna I want you." Natsu spoke calmly with sincerity in his voice. "It wouldn't be the same if you weren't with me."

"Natsu..." The blonde spoke as a small blush crawled onto her face. Before she could say anymore she was interrupted by a certain blue cat.

"Oh things are about to get steamy" Happy teased the two.

"Shut it cat!" Lucy said with an angry/annoyed tone.

"So what do you say Lucy" Natsu smiled with his usual goofy grin "You coming with us?"

"Fine!" She knew arguing with the two was pointless so she decided to give in. She did want to spend time with the two she would have just preferred it be something other than fishing.

"Yay!" Happy Cheered "So lets get going!"

After Lucy changed the trio headed for East Forest.

"So Lucy" the pink haired mage spoke as they walked "How was your mission with that idiot Gray?"

"It was actually a lot of fun" the blonde responded "It turned out the one who were trying to kidnap the girl were some old members from Phantom."

"Whoa! Really?" Happy said shocked.

"Phantom!" Natsu said his tone filling with anger "I wish I had been there to pay them back again for what they did to y..the guild"

"Don't worry" Lucy said trying to cheer him up "Gray and I stopped them."

For a short while while tension filled the air as Lucy walked along side of the fire wizard who now seemed to have something on his mind and it was really bothering him.

"You ok?" Lucy asked placing a hand on Natsus shoulder worried. _**If I had known his mood was going to change so drastically I wouldn't have brought it up**_ she thought to herself.

"Yeah" he said plainly. He had completely lost that cheerful tone he had before.

"You sure?" She was starting to doubt he would be in a mood to hang out. "If you want we can do this another time."

"No!" Happy blurted out. "Lucy you said you'd come with us."

"I know Happy but..." She was interrupted suddenly.

"I'm sorry" Natsu spoke apologetically "I didn't mean to get upset it's just when you mentioned Phantom I still remember what they did to our guild and what they did to you."

Stopping in front of her friend she suddenly felt the need to hug him "That was a long time ago Natsu." With her head tucked in between his neck she whispered. As they continued embracing each other and Happy couldn't help but snicker silently behind them.

Pulling away she gave him a comforting smile "Let's forget about that and have fun ok?". Breaking the hug she kept one hand intertwined with his and was now walking slightly in front of him guiding the way to their destination not noticing a small blush that had made its way on Natsus face because she was trying to hide the one on hers.

"You lllllike her" Happy whispered into Natsus ear only to receive an 'I'll kill you' look in return.

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**Again I am very sorry for the delay on the update. Until the next update I hope you enjoy this chapter. Natsu and Lucys day offically starts in the next chapter.**


	7. Natsus Day part 2

**Like always I don't own Fairy Tail :( Here is part 2 of Natsus Day. I hope everyone enjoys.**

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When they finally made it to the East Forest the trio set up their fishing poles. Natsu and Happy sat in front of their poles while Lucy sat down a few inches away so she could write her novel. Trying to come up with a good start to the next chapter she was so deep in thought that she failed to notice the blue haired feline get up from where he was sitting. It wasn't till after he was sitting on top of her head that she realized it.

"What do you want cat?" She asked with an annoyed tone as she covered up her paper.

"I just want to see what your book is about. Can I read it?" the blue cat asked.

"Of course you can't. I told you a million times Levy gets to be the first to read it I promised her." the blonde replied.

"I won't tell her. Please?" Happy begged.

"NO!" she shouted."

"You're mean Lucy" Happy complained as he flew next to Natsu.

After about a half hour Natsu and Happy had caught 8 long purple fish with multi-colored fins. Just as Happy was about to eat his Happy Natsu grabbed the fish away from him and threw it on top of the others.

"What'd you do that for Natsu?" Happy asked with tears in his eyes.

"We're not eating here Happy. I've got some place else in mind to eat." Natsu explained as a confused Lucy and followed him.

"Happy!" Natsu spoke as he motioned his hand for the cat to come closer to him. After whispering something into the felines ear Happy nodded his head and quickly flew off.

"Where's he going?" The blonde asked. She was very confused about what the two had planned. _**Maybe Happy went to the guild to invite the others. Maybe Natsu wanted Lisanna here too. Or maybe Natsu sent Happy back so they could be alone. Maybe it was a da-.**_ Before she could finish that thought she quickly shook it out of her head._**What am I thinking? There's no way Natsu and I are on a Date** _

"Hey Lucy" Natsu spoke as they continued walking interrupting the blondes thoughts.

"Y-Yeah?" She responded. She didn't know what the fire mage was up to but he was up to something.

"Did I ever show you the house Lisanna and I build when we were kids?" the pink haired male asked.

"No." She answered. _**You never even mentioned it to me before so how could you have showed me**_ "Mira told me about it a while back when I was talking to her in the library. She told me y'all spent a lot of time there when you were hatching the egg Happy was in but I've never seen it."

After Lucy said that Natsu was silent for the rest of the walk.

_**What's he up to? **_the celestial mage pondered _**Are we going back to my place to eat? But my house is the other way so that can't be it. Maybe we are going to his house. Come to think of it I've never seen Natsu's house before. I'd be nice to see where he lives when he's not spending all day at my house.**_

"We're here!" Natsu stated as he stood in front of the straw like shelter.

"What's this?" A confused blonde asked.

"This is the secret base Lisanna and I had built when we were kids." the fire mage responded. "What do you think?"

"It's amazing Natsu, but what are we doing here?" She asked a bit still confused.

"This is where we are eating." Natsu responded as he disappeared into the opening.

"Is it even bi-" She stopped before she finished her sentence as she entered the shelter. Even though it wasn't exactly big it was roomier despite its outer appearance. What also shocked her was what she saw in front of her. There was the small lit fire placed in the middle with Natsu now sitting on the opposite side scarfing down a now charred fish, Happy (who had showed up sometime before the two of them) munching on one of the raw fish and a bento box sitting on the floor. "When did you do this?" she asked as she sat in front of the bento box.

"On the walk I asked Happy to grab everything from the guild and set it up before we got here." Natsu responded with his signature grin. "Do you like it?"

"Natsu it's wonderful" She responded with a cheerful grin. After she opened the bento box and saw the assortment of foods she was in such awe. Looking back at Natsu she asked, "Did you make this yourself?"

Natsu shook his head as he finished chewing what food he had in his mouth before continuing "We asked Mira yesterday if she could make this for you."

"We know you don't like eating fish so we thought we would surprise you with this" Happy added.

Suddenly Lucys eyes started to glisten and a few tears started streaming down her face. Seeing this Natsu and Happy immediately assumed the blonde didn't like her surprise.

"Do you not like it?" Happy asked with sadness in his voice.

Wiping away her tears she smiled at the two "I love it. Thank you!"

_**I can't believe they did this all for me**_ Lucy thought as she enjoyed her food _**The fact that they went through all this trouble and even had Mira prepare this bento box for me is amazing**_

"Natsu" She suddenly spoke as she placed her bento on the ground. "I ..."

"Hey Guys" a sudden female voice spoke as she entered the shelter.

"L-Lisanna!" Natsu said as he quickly swallowed his food. "What are you doing here?"

"Didn't Happy tell you?" The white haired mage asked as she sat right next to the fire mage.

"Well..." the blue haired feline spoke nervously as he tried to explain to an angry Natsu "You see when I went to go get Lucys bento from Mira I ran into Lisanna at the guild hall and ..."

"Happy told me you were coming to our house so I thought I'd stop by and eat with you. I didn't know Lucy would be here too" Lisanna finished explaining.

"What do you mean your house?" Lucy asked the take over mage.

"Oh.. Natsu didn't tell you" Lisanna responded "Back when we were kids and waiting for Happy to hatch from his egg Natsu and I used to pretend that we were a family. Me being the mommy, Natsu being the daddy and Happy of course being our baby."

"Oh!" was all the blonde could say. She didn't really know how to respond to that.

"Yeah we practically lived here back then." Lisanna replied with a smile on her face "Oh Natsu remember the time when we..."

"Come on Lisanna" Natsu interrupted the take over mage before she could continue "That was a long time ago."

"But we used to have so much fun when we were kids" She said cheerfully "I still remember the day when you came to the guild hall with Happy. That look of excitement when you thought you had found a dragons egg. You haven't changed much since then have you?" Lisanna asked with a playful tone in her voice.

"What? What do you mean of course I've changed" Natsu argued "I'm way stronger now then I was back then"

Lisanna let out a soft chuckle before she responded "I know silly".

"You know what guys" Lucy spoke interrupting Lisannas stroll down memory lane "I just remembered I needed to talk to Levy about something. So I'm gonna go" She tried to act as normal as possible but she suddenly she felt like she had become a third wheel.

"Wait Lucy.." Natsu begged "You don't have to..."

"Don't worry about it" She said as she masked her feelings with a smile "See you guys later"

~On her way to the guild~~Lucys POV~

After I left Natsu and Lisanna I summoned Plue and we headed to the guild. As I walked in that direction of the guild hall I couldn't help but feel a bit sad. "I just don't get it. How is it that every time Lisanna is around I suddenly turn into the third wheel?"

"Pun pun" the small spirit replied.

"I was looking forward to spending the day with Natsu. And after everything he did even asking Mira to make me a special bento box I get pushed aside." I said letting out a soft sigh

"Pun pun" the spirit replied again.

"Oh well lets go to the guild hall Plue." I said masking my sadness with a smile.

~End Lucys POV~~Back at the shelter~~Natsus POV~

"Oh and remember that time when you tried to make the secret base out of rocks and it coll-"

"Ok Lisanna enough" I interrupted the white haired mage "I know you didn't come here to talk about things from the past. So why did you come?"

"What do you mean?" Lisanna asked innocently "I told you I ran into Happy in the guild hall and he told me you were here. I didn't know you were here with Lucy. Wait..." Lisanna paused as she now noticed the setting "Were you guys on a Date?"

"W-What! Of course not!" I said a bit defensively "We were just hanging out."

"Then what's the problem?" She asked a bit confused.

"It's just..." I paused trying to find the right way to say it "Happy and I had planned for this day to be just the three of us."

"Oh. I'm sorry" she said sympathetically "If I had known I wouldn't of shown up. Well...since Lucy left can I stay anyway?"

"Sure" I said plainly "But after we are done eating Happy and I are heading back to the guild."

"Okay" Lisanna cheerfully responded "I'm gonna go get some more wood for the fire. I'll be right back."

And with that she left the shelter in search of wood.

"Natsu" Happy suddenly spoke.

"Yeah" I responded looking over at him.

"I'm gonna help Lisanna carry the wood" the blue feline volunteered

"Should I help too?" I questioned.

"No it's ok" Happy replied as he walked out of the the shelter.

After searching for a couple of minutes Happy found Lisanna not to far from the place where they got the fish. She was kneeled down picking up some sticks while humming.

"Lisanna what are you up too?" Happy curiously asked.

"What are you talking about Happy I'm just getting some sticks for the fire" She innocently explained.

"That's not what I meant. I'm talking about why you lied to Natsu." Happy spoke. His tone now serious. "When I saw you at the guild hall I told you we were here with Lucy. So what are you up to?"

"I'm not up to anything Happy. I must have just forgotten that Lucy was with the two of you. I was just so excited to hang out with you and Natsu." She explained

"Are you sure?" Happy asked still a bit skeptical.

"I promise Happy. Now can you take this back to Natsu while I grab a few more?"

"Okay" The cat hesitantly responded as he took the sticks and flew back in Natsus direction. Not noticing the smile on the females face.

~End Natsus POV~~At the Guild Hall~~Lucys POV~

"Lucy what's wrong?" A concerned Mira asked.

I had arrived at the guild hall not to long ago and now I was sitting at the bar laying my head down. As much as I wanted to hide my feelings I couldn't. I came to talk to Erza and Gray but turns out Erza was out on a job that the master asked her to take. And Gray...well Gray had a certain water mage stuck to him like glue. I figured it was best to leave him alone for now.

Picking my head up off the bar I responded "Nothing Mira" I was trying to convince her that I was fine. I had a feeling she didn't believe me.

"Weren't you and Natsu hanging out today?"

Of course she would ask that. She did make the bento box for me after all. _**Maybe coming to the guild wasn't my best choice. I should have just left after I found out Erza wasn't here.**_

"We were but we had an unexpected guest show up and so I decided to leave" I tried not to bring up Lisannas name. I didn't know how Mira would react.

"Was it Lisanna?" She asked.

I couldn't believe she figured it out. "How did you k-"

"Lisanna saw me making the bento box and asked me who it was for. I told her Natsu asked me to make it for you and then when she ran into Happy earlier today she asked him and he told her. After Happy left she rushed to make her a box and said she was going to go see Natsu. I tried to stop her but she wouldn't listen to me."

"Wait...!" I said a bit baffled "So Lisanna knew I was going to be there?"

Mira simply nodded her head in response to my question.

"When she stopped by she said she didn't know I was going to be there." I was in such a shock. _**What is she up to?**_

At that moment I realized I needed to talk to someone about this and as much I valued Mira as a friend (since what I partially needed to talk about was Lisanna) I didn't feel comfortable complaining about Lisanna to her sister. Looking around the guild hall I saw Levy, Jet and Droy standing over by the job request board. Levy was just the person I could talk to about all this. Getting up off of my seat I walked over to her.

"Hey Levy, Jet, Droy" I happily greeted. "Levy can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Hey Lucy" Levy greeted back as I guided her into a corner with me so no one could hear.

"Are you free tomorrow?" I whispered "I really need to talk to you."

"What's wrong?" She asked with worry now in her voice.

"To much to talk about here. Can we hang out tomorrow?" I asked.

"I'm sorry Lucy but we are leaving on a job tomorrow." The blue haired mage sadly said "We will be gone for two days, but you can join us if you want."

"I think I'll take you up on that offer." I happily said. I knew the guys wouldn't be to happy about this once they found out but I just need to talk to someone and Levy has always been the person I could talk to.

"Great" Levy said with a smile on her face. "We'll meet you tomorrow afternoon at the train station"

"Thanks Levy" I said with much appreciation. After that I left the guild and headed home. I decided to end my day early and spend the rest of my time at home writing my novel (if that was even possible). I don't know how much I can concentrate with all that is going on inside my head.

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**Well guys I'd like to say thank you to everyone who has favorited, reviewed and followed my story. I really appreciate it.**

**Im sorry all NaLu fans that Natsu's day got cut short but it makes you wonder what Lisanna has in store. I decided to make her a bit more diabolical in this fanfic**

**I hope everyone enjoyed. The next chapter will be up A.S.A.P**


	8. I'll give you till monday

I don't own Fiary Tail  
So here's Chapter 6. Enjoy :)

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~At Lucys House~~Lucys POV~

After I made it home I sat my bento box in my refrigerator and I sat down at my desk. After pulling out a blank sheet of paper I dipped my pen in ink and tried to work on my novel. However, thanks to Lisanna I had to much going on in my mind to concentrate.

_**I thought Lisanna was my friend**_ I thought thinking back afternoon _**If she knew Natsu had planned this day for me why did she lie and say she didn't know I was gonna be there? When Mira told her the day before about it. Does she not want me to be alone with Natsu?** _

Thankfully I would be able to get some kind of answers to my many questions tomorrow when I go on that job with Levy. Levy can give me some kind of answers. After a couple of minutes lost in thought a sudden knock at my door brought me back. As I approached the door I twisted the knob and slowly opened it only to see Natsu and Happy standing there.

"N-Natsu?" I spoke I was a bit confused as to why he was here since I left him with Lisanna not to long ago. "What are you doing here?" _**And since when do you knock when you come over?**_

"What are you talking about?" Natsu replied giving me his signature grin "We came to see you of course."

"But what about Lisanna?" I asked. I figured she would have tried to come over here with him.

"We left her at the guild hall." Happy chimed. "Yeah after we finished eating we went to the guild to hang out with you but Mira said you had already left." Natsu explained. "I thought you said you were going to the guild to talk to Levy?"

"I did go" I replied. "We talked for a bit then I decided to come home."

"So..." Natsu spoke as he decided to make himself comfortable on my couch "What did you talk about?" He asked curiously.

"Nothing important" I answered simply. I wanted to tell him but I couldn't. If I told him he would freak out and tell me I shouldn't go. He hated when I took that job with Levy and her team the first time and the fact that I am doing it again would only upset him. As much as I hated hurting him. Not telling him was the only thing I could come up with.

"Ok" He simply responded. He gave me a look like he could tell I was keeping something from him. "So what do you want to do now?"

Turning away from him I replied"Actually Natsu I think I'm gonna take a bath then turn in early."

"Huh?" He asked confused "Come on you can't be serious. The suns just going down you can't be tired already."

"It's been a long day and I'm exhausted" Part of what I said was true. The other part however...I guess you could call it a fib of sorts.

"We'll crash here too" Natsu said as he stretched. He had just got off my couch and was walking over to my bed.

"No!" I said which caused him to stop right in front of my bed.

"No what? You don't want us sleeping here?" He asked.

Even though I was facing away from him I could hear his voice turn sad.

"I'm just really tired Natsu" I tried to keep my voice composed "I'd like to be alone tonight. We can hang out some other time."

Knowing there was no way around it Natsu decided to do as I asked and left. But before we was completely gone he spoke "Hey Lucy!"

"Yeah?" I responded as I gathered my towel for my bath.

"You're not mad about what happened earlier today are you?" His voice now sounding concerned. He had probably been worried about that since I left.

Looking back at him I gave him a reassuring smile as I responded "I'm not mad. I promise."

"Good!" He said a bit relieved "See you later" he said as he left my house through the window. _**Of course using the door was a one time thing. He probably didn't want to barge in because he thought I was mad**_

After shutting the window I headed towards the bathroom and closed the door behind me.

~The Next day~

I woke up two hours before I had to meet Levy and the guys at the train station. I spent the first few minutes just laying in bed. I figured leaving a note on my desk like I did when I went back home would be the best solution. I knew someone if not all of them would try to come over later. Time seemed to fly by one I got up out of bed. By the time I got changed and had a small suit case packed it was time for me to go. I placed the note on my desk and headed for the door. However as I opened the door I was completely shocked at who was walking towards my house. Before the thought of turning around even came to my mind he had seen me.

_**Crap!** _I cussed mentally kicking myself _**I knew I shouldn't have waited till last minute to leave. What's he doing here so early?** _Letting out a sigh I knew he would ask about the luggage as soon as he saw it. As I put on a fake smile I walked up to him. "Hey Gray! What are you doing here?"

"I was going to ask you yesterday when you were at the guild but you came and left so quickly that I figured that I'd come early and see if you wanted to hang out?" He replied as his eyes suddenly drifted down. "But it looks like you're already going somewhere."

"Yeah I'm..." I paused for a second I knew I would regret saying this later. "Meeting Levy and the rest of team Shadow Gear at the train station. I'm taking a job with them and I won't be back till tomorrow night."

"What?" He said shocked at what I just told him "Why are you taking a job with them? If you need money you know we are here and will take a job whenever you need us to. You don't have to sneak off with Levys team."

"Gray I'm not taking this job because I need money." I explained as I placed my hand lightly on his arm. /I knew I would get this kind of reaction. I'm just glad it was Gray and not Natsu./"I'm going because I need to talk to Levy."

"What do you need to talk to her about that you can't talk to me about?" he asked "Lucy I'm always here if you need to talk."

I knew he really didn't want me to go, but this is something that I wasn't ready to talk to him about.

"I know Gray and I'm really sorry but If I don't go now I'll miss the train" I said apologetically "We can talk more when I get back. Okay?"

"Alright" he said sounding a bit defeated "We'll take when you get back."

Waving good bye I departed from Gray and made my way to Magnolia station. /I just hope Natsu isn't to mad when he finds out/

~End Lucys POV~~At the guild Hall~~Normal POV~

Everyone was at the guild hall having a good time. Mira was serving drinks at the bar, Cana was drinking twice her body weight in alcohol, Natsu was sitting at a table with Erza and Lisanna, Happy was talking to Charle and Wendy and everyone else was chatting with other guild members when all of a sudden...

"Natsu!" an angry Gray stormed in the guild hall. After making his way over to the table where the fire mage sat he continued "What did you do to her?"

"What are you talking about?" Natsu asked his tone now serious and on the verge of anger "What did I do to who?"

"Lucy" Gray replied "What did you do to her that caused her to leave?"

"What are you talking about?" Natsu asked confused "Lucy didn't leave she's probably just at home still asleep."

"She left on a job with Levy" Gray pointed out. "She told me she needed to talk to her about something."

"What" Natsu asked. At this point Natsus eyes were wide open and he was lost in thought for a few minutes. _**Why would she leave? She said last night that she wasn't mad about what happened with Lisanna. Was she lying?** _

Suddenly a hand now placed on his shoulder shook him out of thought. Looking up he saw Erza standing between the two. "That's enough you two" she commanded "Let's go some where else and talk about this" The scarlet haired female spoke glancing over at Natsu then Gray. When Gray stormed into the guild hall everyone in the guild fell silent. They just stared at the two in curiosity as to why they were arguing and why they were bringing Lucy into it.

After leaving the guild the walk was unusually silent. Natsu was lost in his own thoughts as to why Lucy would leave again without telling him. Erza walked between the two so they couldn't pick a fight before they got to Lucys house and Gray... well Gray was angry at Natsu for doing something to the blonde that she felt the need to leave again without them. _**What could that idiot have done this time?** _the dark haired mage pondered to himself. _**We were having a good time when we took that job and then she spends that day with that bastard and she leaves again**_He could remember her facial expression perfectly. He could tell she was forcing the smile she had from the moment she greeted him to the moment she left. Knowing she felt the need to hide her feelings some what made his heart feel like it was in a knot.

After reaching Lucys house the three entered and made themselves comfortable that lasted about a minute before the yelling began again.

"So flame breath" Gray spoke. "What happened yesterday that made Lucy upset?"

"I don't know" the fire mage replied "We went fishing yesterday and I took her to the old shelter Lisanna and I built when we were kids. We were having a good time and then Lisanna showed up." Out of curiosity Erza asked "You invited Lisanna to tag along?"

"Well no. She kind of invited herself" Natsu explained "Apparently she ran into Happy yesterday when he went to get the bento box for Lucy and Happy told her that I was there. When Lisanna showed up she started talking about the past and Lucy decided to leave."

"You idiot!" Gray shouted "Why didn't you stop her?"

"I did you ice bastard" Natsu argued back "But she said it was ok because she had to go to the guild and talk to Levy"

"Natsu you can be an idiot sometimes" Gray said plainly "After that whole ordeal before didn't you think that by Lisanna showing up that might upset Lucy again? She likes one of us. Did you forget that? Frankly I don't know who it is but don't you think that if for some reason its you that by having Lisanna around you all the time is going to give Lucy a reason not to tell you?"

"I ..." Before Natsu could say anything Erza interrupted him. "Guys I found a note" the scarlet haired woman said as she picked up the piece of paper "Apparently Lucy left it for us. She also left this separate letter for Natsu." Grabbing the letter from Erza Natsu looked down to see his name written on the front and when he flipped it over it said "read in private" After putting the letter in his pocket Erza read the note the blonde left out loud.

**Hey Guys, **

**I'm sorry to have suddenly rushed off on another mission with Levy without telling you. I didn't plan on it but it just kind of happened. I wanted to tell you but I knew if I did you would try and talk me out of it. I promise everyone this isn't like last time. I just need to talk to Levy about something. I will see you all when I get back. Please don't be mad at me.**

"So what should we do?" the dark haired mage asked.

"There's nothing we can do." Erza replied "All we can do it wait till she gets back. But since we're here..." she paused for a minute as she requipped into a towel "I'm gonna take a relaxing bath." Before she entered the bathroom she glanced back at the two. Looking at one of the male wizards she thought to herself _**He really does like her. I just hope he realizes it soon**_

~Later that night~

After Erza left and Gray passed out on the couch Natsu had trouble sleeping. He tossed and turned many times only to fail in getting comfortable which for him was unusual because he could always pass out in Lucys bed. Suddenly he remembered the letter that he had tucked away in his pocket. _**Maybe reading the letter she wrote me will put my mind at ease**_After pulling the letter out he broke the seal and started reading

**Dear Natsu, **

**I am writing this letter to you specifically because I feel bad. You planned this wonderful day just for me and I am thankful for that I really enjoyed today. I know you are probably upset that I left but I promise you. It's not because I'm mad. I know you are probably thinking that's the reason but it's not. I understand Lisanna has known you since you were kids and our friendship can never compare to the friendship you two share. I just have a lot on my mind and I feel like I can sort through everything by talking to Levy. There is one thing I would like to tell you in this letter that I can't tell you to your face. I am jealous of Lisanna a little bit because she has that close of a bond with you.**

After closing the letter Natsu somehow felt a little more relaxed. Closing his eyes he rolled over onto his side getting ready to go to sleep. _**Lucy**_ the fire mage thought still smelling the scent of the blonde on the bed _**I promise the bond we share means more to me then you realize**_With that thought the pink haired mage went to sleep.

~That afternoon the next day~~With Lucy and Levy~

After finished their job they still had sometime before they were supposed to be back. Lucy hadn't had much time to talk to Levy while they were gone. So Lucy recommended the spa in Hosenka as a way to relax and since there was a wall to separate the guys and the girls she could talk to Levy without Jet and Droy being around. After changing Lucy and Levy stepped into the hot springs.

"So have you told him yet?" the blue haired script mage asked. Lucy had already started telling Levy what was bothering her while they were changing. "No!" the blonde spoke sounding a bit defeated "I want to but..."

"But what?" Levy asked interrupting Lucy before she could make up some excuse. "She's always around him" Lucy admitted. "Lucy" Levy spoke as she moved closer to the blonde "You like him right?" only receiving a nod from her friend Levy continued speaking "Then who cares if she's around him. If you like him you need to tell him." Felling the need to argue about it the blonde spoke "But..."

"Nope. No buts" Levy said shaking her head "I'm giving you till Monday to tell him. If you don't I will."

"T-That's not fair" Lucy argued "It's already Thursday. That only gives me 4 days to tell him. I-I don't think I can. What if he doesn't feel the same?"

"Trust me Lucy I'm doing this because I care about you" the blue haired wizard said in a comforting tone "I just want you to be happy. If he doesn't feel the same then it's his loss and he's an idiot."

Knowing there was no way of arguing with Levy Lucy caved and agreed to tell him by Monday. It wasn't going to be easy. _**If he doesn't feel the same then would that make things weird? Should it make things weird?**_ They were friends before these feelings surfaced and it's just a crush. _**It's not like I love him...or do I?** _Never being in love before she didn't know the feeling of being in love with someone.

"But Levy if I can tell him by Monday" Lucy said in a scheming tone "Then you have to tell him how you feel." Hearing that the blue haired girls eyes shot open in surprise. "W-Wait a minute I don't know about..."

"Fair is fair Levy. Besides" Lucy said cutting her friend off. Her tone changing from teasing to caring "Don't you think it's about time you told him how you felt? If he makes you happy then I say go for it."

Levy had wanted to tell him for the longest time how she felt. But what mainly stopped her was how different they were. But all differences is what made her love him even more. She couldn't help but feel the way she did. The iron dragon slayer had his flaws of course but she didn't care. But main question was **_Does he feel the same?_ **

"Alright Lucy it's a deal" Levy held out her hand for the blonde to shake. "If you can tell him how you fell by Monday then I will tell Gajeel." Putting her hand in Levys the two shook hands in agreement. After a half hour Lucy, Levy, Jet and Droy left the hot springs and headed back for the guild.

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So there's a hint (kind of) as to who it is. But don't get to excited readers there is more a head for NatsuxLucyxGray. Lisanna is planning something. But what?

Time is running out. Will Lucy have the courage to tell him in four days? I guess you will have to keep reading to find out

The next chappy will be up a.s.a.p. I hope you enjoyed the chapter


	9. What did I just do?

**Note: I do not..absolutly do not own fairy tail but I am a fairy tail addict..well in general i am an anime addict. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter**

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As I approached my front door Levys words replayed in my head like a catchy song. _**You have till Monday to tell him. If you don't I will**_ After entering my apartment I threw my things lazily on a random spot on the ground and plopped down onto my bed. _**Monday? Why did it have to be Monday? How the hell am I going to find the right way to confess to him that I like him in just 4 days?** _I pondered throwing my hands over my face. _**It's not as simple as walking up to him and saying I like you!** _

Turning to lay on my stomach I placed my head on my pillow to where I could look out the window and stair out at the sky. The sun was setting and the sky was a beautiful mixture of orange, pink and blue.

After we had returned from our mission. We went to the guild hall to inform the master. I had been a bit skeptical about walking through the doors. After leaving the way I did I didn't know exactly how they would react when they saw me.

~Flashback to an hour ago~

Closing in on the guild hall I suddenly felt butterflies in my stomach and stopped dead in my tracks. "H-Hey Levy" I hesitantly spoke as I placed my hand on my arm looking down at the ground. This caused everyone to stop walking. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

Looking back at Jet and Droy Levy gave them a caring smile "You guys can go on ahead we'll be right there." Of course both males wanted to stay by the blue haired mages side but they went on a head to the guild. After making sure they were far enough away Levy turned back to me. "Okay Lucy what's wrong?" Looking up at her i responded "I...I don't know if I should go to the guild hall with you."

She suddenly gave me a questioning look. "Why not? Are you nervous about seeing him?" Shaking my head I explained "I didn't exactly tell them that I was going with you on this job request." After I said that Levy had opened her mouth like she was about to say something but she quickly closed it and let me finish "You see I knew if I told them they would try to talk me out of it. I had left a note for them explaining my reasons but as I was leaving to meet you at the train station I ran into Gray and well...I didn't feel comfortable lying to his face so I told him that I was joining you but because I was pressed for time I had no choice but to leave him standing there in front of my house. I know it hurt him that I kept this from him till last minute and I can only imagine how Erza and Natsu reacted when they found out."

"Lucy" the blue haired wizard said comfortingly as she placed a hand gently on my shoulder "They are your friends. I'm sure they understand".

"I know that but I can't face them just yet." Looking at her with pleading eyes I begged "If you see them can you please tell them I'm not feeling well?"

"But Lucy..." she tried to argue. "Please Levy?" I cut her off before she could say anything else. I know she didn't like it but after she let out a long sigh she agreed. After thanking her I turned in the other direction and headed home.

~End flashback~

The sun had disappeared and the moon now sat in the sky surrounded by stars. I always loved starring at the stars in the sky. I decided I would end my day early and go to the guild hall early in the morning. "Maybe I can get some of the girls opinions about liking a guy before I see him tomorrow." Letting out an exhausted yawn I shut my eyes. As I slowly started to fall asleep a thought passed through my mind. _**I just hope the guys aren't to upset with me**_

~A couple of minutes later outside Lucy's house~~Normal POV~

"What are we doing Natsu?" Happy asked confused. "What do you think we're doing Happy" Natsu answered in a whisper "We're going to check on Lucy. Levy said she wasn't feeling well and I just want to make sure she's okay. Lifting his head he peered inside the window to see the blonde sound asleep.

"She's asleep Natsu" Happy said pointing out the obvious "Should we come back tomorrow?" Planting his feet back on the ground Natsu responded, "Of course we are! Lucy's our friend why wouldn't we? Come on lets go home."

~The next day~~Lucys POV~

The next morning after I woke up I walked into the bathroom. After washing my face and brushing my teeth I started getting dressed so I could head to the guild hall. After I slipped on a pink tank top and a black skirt. Putting the belt that contained my spirit keys I slipped on a pair of pink high heels and left.

As I walked to the guild hall I couldn't help but get that uneasy feeling in my stomach again. I hoped they weren't to upset with me about leaving so suddenly but I have until Monday to tell him and I need Erzas opinion in addition to a few of the other girls at the guild.

Taking a deep breath in I let out a long sigh before I opened the guild doors. It wasn't as full as it normally was but it wasn't completely empty either. Taking a quick glance around the guild hall I didn't see any sign of Natsu or Gray which made me a bit sad. However, I did see a certain scarlet haired woman sitting at the bar eating her usual slice of cake. _**How does she eat so much cake and never gain weight?** _

Letting out another long sigh I walked up to the bar and took a seat next to Erza. Approaching the bar I was greeted by a cheerful Mira who was bringing Erza another slice of cake. "Hi Lucy". Taking a seat next to Erza I greeted Mira and Erza but Erza just sat there eating her cake. "Can I ask you two something?" I asked. "Sure Lucy w-"

"Excuse me Mira" one of the guild members called from the end of the bar. "Excuse me a minute Lucy" the take over mage said before she walked away to tend to a few guild members. I took this as a chance to talk to Erza. "Listen Erza..." Sitting her fork on her plate she turned to face me "Lucy" the tone of her voice made me freeze in my seat I didn't know what was going to happen but it didn't sound good. "It's ok. You don't have to apologize for anything I get it" Hearing those words made me feel relieved "There's nothing for you to be worried about. We aren't mad at you for leaving."

"But what about the guys?" I asked. "Don't worry about them. They were upset at first but they aren't mad. We are your friends Lucy. We just want you what's best for you and for you to be happy."

"Thanks Erza" I know I should have been relieved but for some reason I felt like I needed to hear it from them. Suddenly Mira came back over to where we were sitting. After she apologized for making us wait she picked up a cup and a rag and started cleaning it while I continued what I was saying before. "Okay...well you see...there's this guy" Hearing that Mira's eyes lit up with excitement "I like him but I don't know how to tell him so...what I was wondering was...how would you tell a guy you liked him?"

"I wouldn't know" Erza replied "There is no one I am interested in". _**I should have known I would get that kind of response from Erza.**_Even though she was completely hooked on Jellal she was very good at hiding her feelings. "What about you Mira?" I asked now facing her. "Goodness I guess I would..."

Suddenly I felt a strong hand on my shoulder. "So our Lucy has a crush on someone." Looking back I saw Gray standing behind me. Seeing him and realizing he heard everything I had said I mentally kicked myself. "Come on...tell me...who is it?" Gray teased. "T-That's not important" I couldn't help but feel nervous. If he found out before I could talk to him myself I would die (not literally but you know what I mean). "Well anyways joking aside, whoever it is you should just be up front with him. There's no reason to be nervous. For all you know he could feel the exact same way".

"Thanks Gray" I appreciated his vote of confidence. "Um Gray can I talk to you for a moment?" For some reason when I asked him that he all of a sudden got this nervous/shocked looked on his face. "U-Um yeah...S-Sure." I don't know why he was acting this way but I needed to apologize for leaving the way I did. Pulling him aside I let out a soft sigh, "Look Gray I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I know I should have told you sooner about me taking that job with Levy but I just didn't know how. After I left you standing in front of my house I just felt so terrible."

For a minute he stood there in silence, but after a while he finally spoke. "Lucy it's ok. When you left I did feel hurt, but after reading your letter I understood." Giving him a relieved smile I thanked him once again. _**I am so grateful to have friends like him. Now the only person I need to talk to is Natsu.** _Looking around I noticed he still wasn't here. _**I guess I can go home and work on my novel for a while. Maybe he will show up there and if not I'll come back later.**_After saying good bye to everyone I left the guild hall and headed home.

~A few minutes after Lucy left~~Normal POV~

"Gray! Are you ok?" Mira asked a dazed ice wizard. "Huh! Oh yeah I'm fine" he replied but she knew something was bothering him "I think I'm gonna step outside and get some air". As Mira walked away to get someone a drink Gray had stood up and was about to walk off when Erza grabbed his arm. "Where are you going?" She asked curiously. She had some idea but she wanted to see if he would admit it himself. "I'm going outside to get some air." Gray was never the best liar but she pretended to believe him and let him walk off.

~In front of Lucys house~~Lucys POV~

I had made it home and was about to walk in my door when I heard a faint voice call my name. I thought I was imagining things so I started entering my house when I heard it again. As the person got closer I could hear their voice more clearly I turned to see Gray coming closer. "Hey Gray!" I greeted when he finally made it to my doorway. He had an expression on his face like he was worried about something "Is everything ok?"

"I wanted to talk to you about that guy you were talking about earlier". _**Does he know?** _"Uh w-what about him?" I asked nervously. Suddenly he grabbed my hand and guided me inside to the couch. "Well when you were talking about him you seemed really nervous. Are you afraid to tell him?" I didn't feel comfortable talking face-to-face about this with Gray because if I said to much he might catch on. He still had his hand placed over mine to let me know he was there for me. "Kind of." I admitted "The thought of revealing my feelings and being shot down scares me. I've never liked anyone like this before."

"Someone at the guild gave me this idea and I want to try it out" he lied. Truth was he wanted to see if he could calm her nerves down to the point where she could tell him,if it was him, how she felt. Arching an eyebrow she didn't know what he was up to but she went along with it anyway "What are you going to do?"

"Just trust me Lucy." Giving her hand a light reassuring squeeze he continued "Now close your eyes and clear your mind of everything but him". I felt a bit skeptical about it but I trusted Gray so I did as he said. Closing my eyes a let out a deep breath clearing my head of everything except for him.

"Next I want you to think about memories you have with him" the ice make mage instructed. I started thinking back to all the good times I have had with Natsu. From the day we met to the most recent times when we were in Edolas. Thinking about all the times I have had with him caused me to block out everything else Gray said after. Suddenly I started beautifying him in my mind again. His beautiful features surrounded by a background of stars. _'Lucy we've known each other for a long time and for the past few months I've found myself falling in love with you. Please say you will be mine forever'_as Lucy imagined herself leaning into Natsu's embrace she didn't realize she was doing it in reality as well.

Gray sat in silence as he waited for the blonde to respond to him. He was just about to call her name when he noticed her inching closer to him. At first he was going to back away but when the grip on his hand tightened he thought she didn't want him to. Suddenly Gray found himself leaning closer to the blonde their faces only inches apart. Suddenly what little distance was left between them was now closed. Their lips connected and Gray soon found Lucys gentle fingers gripping his shirt deepening the kiss between the two.

At that moment Gray had no idea what had gotten into the blonde but he had no reason to complain. The kiss was so gentle but filled with passion and he was loving every second of it.

Suddenly breaking the kiss I opened my eyes to see Gray only inches away from me. His hands were around my waist and my hands were gripping his shirt. He was trying to catch his breath and for some reason I had this feeling like I needed to do the same. Feeling a tinge on my lips it hit me what had happened. I had been in such a daydream that the kiss I shared with Natsu in my mind was actually happening here with Gray.

"O-Oh my gosh Gray...I-I'm so sorry...I don't know what came over me" I started apologizing my voice sounding frantic as I pushed myself away from him. _**How could I let this happen?** _I couldn't believe it. After pushing away I rushed to the bathroom.

"Lucy" Gray shouted as he got up off the couch and walked toward the bathroom door "Can we talk about what just happened?"

"Can we talk about it some other time? Can you just go please?" I shouted from the other side of the door. Gray didn't know what had just happened. First they were sharing what he thought was an amazing kiss and the next thing he knew she was pushing herself away. As much as he wanted to stay and wait for her to leave the bathroom so they could talk he decided to leave for now and head back to the guild.

~A couple of minutes later at the guild hall~

Walking into the guild hall Gray was suddenly yanked out of the door way by Erza who had a small smile on her face. "So did you go over there?"

"What are you talking about?" he asked trying to act as normal as possible. He should had known better then to believe that she believed his lie. "I told you I was going outside for air."

"Gray cut the crap" She said with a serious look. "I know you went to Lucys house now tell me...what happened? Gray knew that there was no way of dodging Erza once she got serious, and since this involved Lucy she was serious. Sitting at an empty table Gray started explaining all the events from start to finish to the scarlet haired woman.

~Back at Lucys house~~Lucks POV~

I had just exited the bathroom my fingers still pressed to my lips. I could still feel a slight coldness on my lips. It was amazing that even though he was an ice wizard his lips were warm. _**My first kiss unknowingly given to Gray, but the weird thing was it wasn't terrible**_Shaking the image from my mind I tried to go back to what I had planned on doing before he showed up. I sat at my desk and dipped my pen in ink.

I was about to start working on my novel when all of a sudden there was a knock at my door. "I thought I told him I didn't want to talk about this right now" I said to no one as I walked to the door. "Gray I thought I told you I didn-" As I opened the door I realized it wasn't Gray standing in front of me.

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**Thats the end of this chapter. I hope I wrote the small kiss scene to everyones liking. When I was thinking about this chapter the idea of adding a kiss between the two popped into my mind and I liked the idea. The next chapter will be up soon. What will Lucy do now? Time is running out before she has to tell Natsu and now she has to talk to Gray about their kiss. What are her feelings towards it? Plus, don't forget Lisanna is still planning something**


	10. The mysterious figure

**I don't own Fairy Tail**

**Here's Chapter 8. Enjoy :D**

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Lucy was about to start working on her novel when all of a sudden there was a knock at the door. "I thought I told him I didn't want to talk about this right now" she said to no one as she walked to the door. "Gray I thought I told you I didn-" As the blonde opened the door she realized it wasn't Gray standing in front of me.

"Luuucy" Happy chimed as he flew towards the celestial wizard and hugged her. "Hi Happy" she happily greeted patting his head. "What are you doing here?" she asked looking down at him. "I came with Natsu?" Happy replied "Are you feeling better?"

Hearing that the blonde stepped in the door way and looked around but Natsu was no where in site. "Where is he Happy? I don't see him."

Suddenly a shadowed figure appeared behind her. Sneaking up closer and closer the figure made sure to keep their foot steps light and quiet and they approached the blondes back. When they got close enough to her making the scariest and loudest noise they could think of they placed their hands swiftly on the blondes shoulders causing her to jolt in shock and surprise as she let out a loud scream.

As she quickly turned around she stared wide eyed at the fire mage who was now laughing hysterically at the blondes reaction to his prank. "Geez Natsu" the blonde said in an angry tone as she stared daggers at the pink haired male. "What's the matter with you?"

After wiping away a small tear from his eye Natsu's laughter finally calmed down enough for him to speak "See Happy I told you it would work" the dragon slayer said with a wide grin on his face to the blue feline now standing next to him. "Yeah but Natsu... when you scared her she squeezed me so hard I thought I was going to die" Happy said with tears in his eyes. "Oh don't be so dramatic Happy I told you scaring her would help her get ride of her cold and I was right."

"Wait! wait! wait!" Lucy said interrupting their argument and making them put their attention on her. Hearing their argument caused her anger to subside and was now replaced with confusion. "What are you talking about scaring me helped get ride of my cold? When was I even sick?"

"When we were at the guild hall we saw Levy come back from the job you two went on but you weren't with her" Happy started explaining."

~Flashback~~Yesterday at the guild hall~

"Hey Natsu" Happy said while tapping the dragon slayers shoulder. "What's up?" Natsu asked now starring at his feline friend. Pointing his finger towards the guild hall entrance "I think Lucy's back from the job with Levy."

Moving his glance from the half eaten plate of food to where Happy was pointing. His eyes widened as he saw Jet and Droy walking in the door. He waited patiently for a minute or two for the girls to walk in but they never entered. Now feeling impatient Natsu abandoned his food and walked over to Jet and Droy.

"Hey Guys" Natsu greeted the two as they stood at the bar "Hey Natsu" the two simultaneously greeted. "Where's Lucy? Didn't she come back with you guys?" Natsu asked.

"Uh..." Droy said scratching the back of his head "She was outside talking to Levy. They said they would be here in a m-" his sentence was cut short but the script mage walking through the guild doors "There's Levy now."

Turning back towards the direction of the guild entrance Natsu saw the blue haired mage walking towards them. "Hey Levy! Where's Lucy?" Natsu asked. He was starting to feel like she was avoiding him.

The smile Levy had when she walked into the guild disappeared and her face looked calm and a bit sad "I'm sorry Natsu" she said apologetically "Lucy said she wasn't feeling well so she went home early."

"Yeah" Jet agreed "Hey Droy didn't Lucy look ill when she stopped suddenly in front of the guild hall". Nodding his head "You're right Jet she did look a little sick". Turning her attention from the guys back to Natsu she gently placed her hand on Natsu's arm "She should be better by tomorrow if you'd like to visit her then."

"No" Natsu said plainly shocking the script mage a bit "Come on Happy let's go visit Lucy and see how she's feeling." At that moment Levy knew she had to stop him. Lucy didn't want to see him yet and she told the blonde she would make sure of that. "B-But Natsu..." this cause the fire dragon slayer to stop mid-step and look back at her. "Lucy said she didn't want to see anyone because if she was getting sick she didn't want it to spread."

"I don't care" Natsu said with a grin "Lucy's my friend and whether I get sick or not doesn't matter. If Lucy is sick and needs something I will be there for her." Before Levy could say anything else Natsu was gone. _**I'm sorry Lucy**_ the script mage thought _**I know you told me you didn't want to see him today but it looks like you have no choice**_ With that Levy went to the bar to talk to Mira.

~End Flashback~ 

"So how did you get the idea to scare me?" the celestial spirit mage asked still confused as to why he felt the need to almost scare her to death. "Well you see..." Natsu started explaining "when Levy told me you weren't feeling well I remembered something about if you scare someone it gets ride of their cold. Happy and I had came over last night but you were already asleep so here we are."

After removing the palm of her hand from her face she looked at the pink haired male "Natsu...that's hiccups."

"What?" Natsu asked feeling a bit confused "What are you talking about?" Letting out a deep sigh Lucy explained, "You scare someone to get ride of their hiccups. It doesn't work for someone who's sick and the other day I wasn't sick I just wasn't feeling well."

"See Natsu I told you scaring Lucy wasn't a way to make her feel better" Happy said in an i told you so tone. "No you didn't" Natsu tried to argue.

As the two started their argument the blonde couldn't help but stare lovingly at the duo. Even though she was practically almost scared to death the intentions of the fire wizard were meant to be helpful. It was funny how her emotions quickly changed from anger to confusion to... well happyness. It was something about those two that she could never stay mad at them no matter what they did whether it be being goofy or being reckless on a job at the end of the day she felt happy.

Noticing the blondes stares the two stopped their arguing and walked over to her. "You ok Luce? You don't look well." Salamander said while placing a hand on Lucy's forehead. The sudden close contact and the warmth of Natsu's hand caused the blonde to blush suddenly.

"Yeah the look you had just a minute ago looked disgusting. Like you were gonna puke." It's funny how Happy always found some way to push that certain button that made the celestial wizard want to hit him. "I'm fine" she said in a some what angry tone. After letting a sigh she continued speaking, "So Natsu... besides coming here and scaring me half to death why are you here?" She asked as she sat down on the couch. "Uhh...well you see...I needed to talk to you about something." It seemed like he was having trouble finding the right words when suddenly he leaned in to Happy and whispered something into his ear.

Suddenly Happy pulled his ear away and blurted out, "But why?" It seemed whatever Natsu whispered to him he wasn't to pleased about. "Because I said so" the dragon slayer said in a sort of hushed tone while gritting his teeth causing the cat to frown "But I want to hang out with Lucy too" the blue cat practically in tears. Closing in the distance so he could whisper into his ear again. Natsu said a few more words to Happy suddenly making him cheer up and nod his head.

While that occurred Lucy could only sit there in confusion. "Ok Lucy I'll be back later" Happy cheerfully announced causing the blonde to be a bit taken back "B-But you just got here". "I know but I forgot I needed to go to the guild and talk to Charle about something."

"O...kay" the blonde barely having anytime to respond before the cat had flown out of the still open window. _**I wonder what that was about**_

"Luce" Natsu said in somewhat of a whisper. Lucy had been so preoccupied with Happys sudden departure she had failed to notice the Dragon slayer take a seat next to her on the couch. "I want to talk to you...about the letter." This made the celestial spirits eyes widen as she now froze in her seat. The letter wasn't long but what she had written in the letter she had hoped would never be brought up. "W-What about it?" The tone of her voice now sounded nervous. "Why are you jealous of Lisanna?" It was never like Natsu to beat around the bush about anything.

Once he asked that the blonde didn't say anything in her mind she was trying to find the right words to answer his question. However, to Natsu it seemed like she didn't want to answer. "Luce I need to know" his voice now sounded impatient but at the same time it held pain and sadness "Did I do something to make you think my friendship with Lisanna means more to me then the bond we share?"

In a sort of whisper she answered "Natsu you haven't done anything. It's just..." letting out a soft sigh she continued "I'm so grateful for everyone at Fairy Tail everyone in the guild is like my family. But Gray, Erza, Happy and especially you Natsu y'all mean so much more to me. You were the person to help me get into Fairy Tail without you I wouldn't have any of this. But I know that your friendship with Lisanna started long before I came along so I know I can't compete with the bond you guys share."

"You're wrong" turning their gaze toward each other Natsu swiftly captured Lucy's hands and held them in his "Luce it's true that Lisanna and I have been friends longer but we've been through so much in the short amount of time that you've been in the the guild. The friendship I have with you means just as much if not more."

Hearing that brought a feeling of happiness to Lucy "Natsu" she spoke in a caring tone as her eyes now filled with tears.

~Back at the guild hall~ ~With Gray and Erza~

"I see... so you kissed Lucy" Erza said in a stern but calm voice. When the scarlet hair female grabbed hold of him a few minutes earlier and forced him to tell her of all the events that occurred while he was gone he didn't know whether or not he should be terrified by how extremely calm she was about it. "Yeah but after she broke the kiss she started freaking out."

"So are you going to talk to her about it?" Gray raised an eye brow at that question "I will only bring it up if she does. I don't need to make things more awkward then they already are."

"Don't you think you should talk to her about it or have you not figured out your own feelings yet?" Gray just shot her a confused look. "You're such an idiot. I don't know why you keep denying it but until you figure it out for yourself I can't help you anymore."

What Erza didn't know was Gray was well aware but he had a slight suspicion that the kiss wasn't meant for him and that made his heart ache but he decided to push that thought out of his head. He didn't want to admit his feelings to anyone because if it was said out loud then he knew the words could never be taken back. Once they were said out loud he didn't know if he would be able to control them as well as he has been. In some ways he wishes that he had never known that Lucy might have feelings for him. If he had never listened to Natsu read that stupid letter if he had only made him stop before had then the feelings that he has now would have never surfaced.

All he could do now was go home and think about things. He didn't want to take a job because even though going on a job right now would distract him for a little while he just didn't feel like it. He would go and visit Lucy tomorrow and hopefully things wouldn't be to weird she was still his friend after all.

~At the bar with Lisanna and Levy~

"Levy can I ask you something?" Lisanna asked as Levy took a seat at the bar. "Yeah you can ask me anything." Levy cheerfully replied "Well ever since Lucy dropped by the guild Mira has been going on and on to me about it. She's been so excited that Lucy likes someone but since she didn't name names I was wondering if you knew who it might be?" For a minute Levy sat there in silence she didn't want to put Lucy's business out there for everyone to know but she was sure if she asked Lisanna wouldn't tell anyone.

"Um... well... you see" Levy was still trying to find a way to tell her she couldn't but Lisanna cut her off "Pleeeeease Levy" the youngest take over wizard begged "I promise I won't tell."

Letting out a sigh in defeat "Fine but you can't tell anyone ok? This is strictly between us." As Lisanna's eyes lit up she nodded her head waiting her the script mage to continue. "It's Natsu." For a split second the sparkle in Lisanna's eye's disappeared and before Levy could realize her face held a bit of jealousy but she quickly masked that with excitement. "So what's she going to do? Is she going to tell him?" Lisanna asked faking the excitement in her voice. "Yeah I think she's going to tell him Monday." After saying her good byes Lisanna got up and left the guild hall.

~Later that night at Lucy's house~

It was around 10:30 at night when there was a knock on her door. Letting out an annoyed sigh the celestial wizard lazily got out of bed and dragged herself towards the door. After reaching the door and turning the knob she was surprised at who her late night visitor was "Gray?" he voice sounding a tad raspy as she rubbed her eyes to make sure she was seeing right "What are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry for waking you but I couldn't sleep. I needed to get get a few things off of my chest." the Ice make mage explained. "Uh...ok. Do you want to come in?" Lucy asked.

"No" he replied while shaking his head "I wont be here long I just needed to get what I wanted to say off my chest and then I'll be going."

"Ok... so what did you want to tell me?" She was hoping that it had nothing to do with what had happened between them earlier. "Well for one thing I just wanted to tell you that about the kiss earlier..." _**Crap!** _she said mentally kicking herself _**I really don't want to talk about this right now**_ "If it's just going to make things weird between us then I promise I won't bring it up until you are ready to talk about it."

Hearing his words she let out a soft sigh of relief "However..." She paused and she awaited what else he wanted to say. Whatever it was it seemed to be bothering him a bit more like he was hesitant about saying it. "I want to tell you something but I'm just not ready to say it in words yet so... I'm just going to let my actions speak for themselves."

As confusion took over her mind she just stood there as as Gray inched closer. Even though she felt like she should stop whatever he was about to do it was like she was frozen where she stood. Now only inches apart Gray wrapped one hand around the blondes small waist while he used his free hand to gently push back a strand of hair out of her face. Without a second of hesitation Gray gently pressed his lips to hers. As Lucy stood wide eyed in surprise Gray tried his best to pour his feelings into the kiss.

After breaking the kiss he didn't say anything else he just turned and headed back home. As her gaze followed him as he walked away she couldn't help but press her fingers lightly over her lips. After he could no longer be seen Lucy closed the door behind her. However what the two had failed to notice was that someone was watching them from the shadows.

"How interesting" the shadowed figure said as they walked out from behind where they had hid a sinister smile appearing on their face as they walked away.

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**So who do you think the person in the shadows is? I hope everyone is enjoying my little fanfic and I would like to thank everyone for reviewing/following/ and favoriting my story.**

**On a side note I would like to apoligize for the cliff hanger because I will be moving soon my internet will be getting cut off within the next few days so even though I will be working on the next chapter I won't be able to upload it for a while. I can't say for sure when it will be back up but when it does the first thing I do will be to upload the chapter/s for everyone. **


	11. The run in at the train station

Well you all know the drill... I don't own Fairy Tail or any of the characters used in this fanfic. I know it's been a while since I updated and I apoligize but we finally got internet :D

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After Gray left and Lucy shut the door she laid back down to attempt sleep that she knew would be difficult to return to. After what seemed like a drive by kiss Lucy couldn't help but toss and turn in her bed. Thanks to the ice mage her mind couldn't be put at ease. As she laid in bed her thoughts seemed to think of only their kiss. When her body would eventually fall into a peaceful slumber her dreams replayed the event in her mind as if not wanting to forget.

**~The next morning~**

Walking into the guild hall Lucy couldn't help but stifle yawns almost one right after the other. Being greeted left and right the only response she could give her guild members was a wave hello. After taking a seat at the bar Lucy laid her head on the bar. After closing her eyes she enjoyed the cooling touch that it had when she laid her face on it.

Without even realizing it Mira had walked up to greet the tired blonde. "Goodness Lucy" Mira said in her usual cheerful tone "You look exhausted."

"Yeah" Lucy replied still laying her head on the bar with her eyes shut. At that moment she was just to tired to look at the eldest strauss sibling. "I didn't get much sleep last night. I just have a lot going on in my mind right now."

"Oh" Mira responded as a small smile appeared on her face. "I bet I know why." Hearing that response Lucy couldn't help but look at the take over mage with questioning eyes. "Lucy you don't have to hide it. I know"

Hearing those words Lucys brown orbs widened and her heart started racing _**Does she know?** _"Wh-What do you mean? What do you know?" She tried to keep her voice as calm as she could to hide how nervous she was actually feeling waiting for Mira to answer. "It's ok Lucy you don't have to hide it. Lisanna told me but don't worry..." Mira leaned in so no one else could hear "I won't tell anybody."

So many things were going through Lucys mind at that moment. _**Did Lisanna see Gray and I kiss last night? If so who else did she tell? Does Natsu know?** _"What did she tell you?" Lucy whispered.

"About your crush on Natsu" Standing up straight again Mira let out a soft giggle as she picked up a dirty cup and started cleaning it. Feeling a sense of relief it suddenly dawned on Lucy that Lisanna knew about her crush "Mira, how did Lisanna find out?"

"She asked Levy" Mira answered cheerfully "But don't worry Lucy Lisanna told me not to tell anyone else." At that moment Lucy felt a bit of relief and tad upset that Levy told but she really had no right to be mad because she never specifically asked Levy not to tell anyone. "So" Mira said excitedly as she moved closer to Lucy "Are you going to tell him?"

Just as the blonde opened her mouth to answer Natsu came up behind her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders and a sudden blush crept onto her face. Before she could say anything Natsu held out a job request in front of her face. Apparently the job request was to run out a group of thugs that were harassing a town and the reward was 200,000 jewel. As tired as she was there was no way she could pass up on a job that would pay her rent for the month plus leave her with some extra cash.

"So are Erza and Gray going to join us on this job request?"She asked. It had been a while since she went on a job with Erza and after last night Lucy didn't know how she would act around Gray. "Nah" Natsu said tucking the request back in his pocket "Gramps sent Erza out on another S class mission."

"What about Gray?" she asked again. Natsu raised a brow at the question but didn't really think anything of it. "Come to think of it I haven't seen that ice brained idiot all day."

Usually Gray liked to arrive at the guild hall pretty early. If he wasn't on a job he was there either eating or chatting with other guild members and the fact that he wasn't there made the blonde feel like he was trying to avoid her. "Don't worry we can do this job without those two. It will be just like the old days." Natsu said flashing Lucy I wide grin. Seeing Natsu so happy and excited Lucy couldn't help but smile at him in return.

After Natsu grabbed a bite to eat the the two left and headed towards Magnolia station. "Have fun you two!" Mira shouted even though it was mostly directed towards Lucy. As Lucy looked back Mira just gave her a wide smile. The celestial wizard knew exactly what Mira was thinking as she waved them off.

As the guild doors shut behind the two they were greeted by Lisanna. "Hey Lisanna!" Natsu and Lucy both greeted the youngest take over sibling. "Hey guys" Lisanna greeted back "You two heading somewhere?"

"Yeah. We are going to Lucys so she can pack a few things and then we are heading out on a job." Natsu replied. Since he had grabbed the job request the day before he had his stuff strapped to his back already. Even though he figured the job wouldn't take to long he packed enough just in case.

"Do you mind if I join you?" Lisanna asked suddenly which shocked the blonde a bit. Of course she still hung out with Natsu all the time but it seemed like Lisanna had stopped asking to join them on jobs a little after they had apologized to Lucy for excluding her.

"Yeah no problem" Natsu said cheerfully. Watching a smile spread across Lisanna's face Lucy couldn't help but feel like something was different about her, like she was hiding something but she couldn't quiet put her finger on it so she didn't put much thought into it. "Great" Lisanna responded happily "I'll inform Mira and meet you guys at the train station" After getting a response from Natsu Lisanna ran inside the guild hall and Natsu and Lucy headed towards her house.

**~Back at the guild hall~**

Just a couple of minutes after Natsu, Lucy and Lisanna left for the train station Gray had arrived at the guild later then normal. After what had occurred last night he figured he'd lay in bed just a bit longer before finally getting up. Walking into the guild hall he noticed how quiet it was. Seeing him approach the bar Mira had a glass of ice water set out for him by the time he took a seat. "Hey Mira" Gray greeted "Where's that flame bastard?"

"He went out on a job with Lucy and Lisanna." Mira answered.

"Lisanna went with them?" Gray asked a bit surprised. After that whole incident with Lucy Lisanna had started going on missions with Juvia or Elfman. If Gray had known Lisanna was going to join them then he would have tagged along too. Even though the events last night had occurred Gray knew that with Lisanna tagging along Lucy was bound to be the third wheel in their conversation.

_**Damn it!**_ Gray thought frustrated. How is it the day he stays in a bit late is the day he should have been at the guild hall early. After getting a few guild members some drinks Mira brought Gray a plate with a Calamade hotdog. It wasn't something he ate to often but he had a craving for one this morning. After placing it in front of him she excused herself to get Cana and a few other guild members more booze and food. Not to soon after taking a huge bite of the messy food the water mage sat next to him with a calamade hotdog of her own.

"Gray" the water mage said cheerfully causing the ice make mage to look over at her while he took another bite of his own food "Juvia made a Calamade hotdog just for you". Taking a seat next to him she moved the plate in front of him and placed the one containing the food she made in front of him.

As Gray inspected the food he noticed it had some sort of ooze coming from it, some how all the food Juvia made ended up that way, because he didn't want to seem rude he decided he would try it. As the water mage sat there and watched him take a bite her mind couldn't help but fantasize about him.

**~In Juvias mind~ **

_A sparkling Gray sits on bended knee holding out a box with a ring in it. "Juvia you're food is so amazing. Can you make my food for me for the rest of my life?" After she agrees they embrace into a warm hug. She then see's herself and Gray cuddled up on a couch sitting in front of a warm fire while their son and daughter run around playing with each other. The little boy has blue spiky hair and the little girl has long dark hair that curls at the bottom. As Juvia enjoys the scene in front of her she leans her head onto Grays shoulder and Gray softly kisses the top of her head. _

**~Back in reality with Gray~**

Despite its appearance the food Juvia mad didn't taste to bad. After swallowing it he had turned to thank her but when he looked at her she looked as if she was deep in thought. He tried saying her name to get her to respond but when she continued to just sit there not saying a word he decided to get up and walk over to the job request board.

It didn't take him long to scan over all of the jobs and find one he could solo for some extra cash. After ripping one of the papers off of the board he walked over to Mira who was talking to Elfman. "Tell Gramps I'm going on this job." The dark haired mage said while holding out the paper. After Mira wished him luck he left for the train station.

Meanwhile Juvia had finally finished daydreaming about Gray only to realize that the seat that her crush had been sitting in was now gone, in fact he was no where in the guild. As she went to grab the plate with the partially eaten food she noticed a piece of paper with something written on it.

"Thanks" was all the paper said. Such simple words but even so it sent her heart into over drive as her face now held a blush as she thought about her prince.

**~The next morning at the train station~**

Lucy, Natsu and Lisanna had just got off the train. Both females trying to ease the motion sick fire mage. They had finished their job last night but because it was so late they decided to sleep in a hotel for the night. The job had gone well except for the fact that some buildings had been destroyed by the dragon slayer. As they all started walking back towards Fairy Tail Lucy noticed a certain dark haired mage getting off the same train only a few carts ahead from they had just exited from.

At first she was a bit skeptical since it was only the back of his head but what ended up giving it away was the fact that as soon as she blinked the shirt the person was wearing seemed to disappear. She only knew one person who was capable of stripping that fast. **_Gray_** the blonde mage thought to herself. Without even saying a word to the others Lucy had sped up and was now weaving through a crowd of people

As Gray started walking back to Fairy Tail the faint scent of Lucys perfume flew into his nose. He didn't have a nose like Natsu's and with so many people around him he could of clearly been mistaken but somehow the blondes scent was etched into his brain. Stopping in his path he looked around just to make sure he was mistaken when suddenly just as he turned around he could see her making her way to him. "G-Gray" Lucy said a bit out of breath "I need to t-talk to you". Apparently the crowd of people between them was much larger then she thought. "Hey Luce, what's up?" Of course Gray acted as if the kiss between them never happened. He promised the blonde he wouldn't bring it up till she did.

"What are you doing here?" She asked curiously. The last thing she expected was to run into Gray at the train station. "I just got back from a job" he explained. "By yourself?" She asked a bit surprised not because she thought he couldn't handle a solo job but because Gray hadn't taken a job alone since they formed a team. In response Gray simply nodded his head. She didn't know why she was surprised about him going on a solo mission. After being in the guild a while she had heard that before she had entered the guild Gray would go on all kinds of job requests either alone or with Loke. She really wanted to talk to him about the other night night but with all the people around and Natsu and Lisanna more then likely walking towards them there was no way she could bring it up right now.

"We just got back from a job ourselves" she said with a light chuckle. To her the air around the two seemed a bit tense. "I was about to head home if you'd like you can come over and I can make some coffee." As soon as the words came out of her mouth butterflies seem seemed to fill her stomach. She knew if he came over she would have to bring it up and if he didn't then this awkward feeling would always be around the two.

Before she could realize it Natsu had walked up behind her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "There you are Lucy" Natsu said with a childish grin before turning his gaze to his rival "What are you doing here you ice-freak".

"What'd you say you stupid flame-idiot" Gray argued back as he came closer to the dragon slayer. Releasing his grip from Lucy's shoulders he took a few steps closer to the ice make mage "You heard me you damn stripper."

The two males now had their foreheads pressed together in an aggressive way with both emitting an aura around them. As they continued with their verbal insults and punches all Lucy and Lisanna could do was watch from the sidelines as some of the passerbys in the train station stopped to watch the violent scene unfold.

Standing there an embarrassment Lucy and smiling Lisanna stood a couple steps away from the arguing boys. "Why do they have to do this everywhere we go?" Lucy said feeling the need to grab her friends and drag them out of the train station before they cause an even bigger scene or worse... use their magic against each other and destroy part if not all of Magnolia train station in the process. After letting out a soft chuckle Lisanna spoke "I don't know... I think it's kind of refreshing" All Lucy could do was look over at the young take over make as she listened to her talk. "Ever since we were kids Natsu and Gray have always been this way. In their own way this is their way of acknowledging each other and how strong they have become. Mira and Erza used to be the same way. Even though they won't really admit it out loud this is just how they express their friendship."

After a couple of minutes the two had finished fighting and all of them left the train station. With Lucy never receiving an answer from Gray she assumed that he didn't want to come over and talk. After walking Lucy to her apartment Natsu, Lisanna and Gray headed for Fairy Tail. Some part of her thought that with the distraction of his and Natsu's fight that he might have forgotten about her question, but she just decided to let it go. She figured after relaxing in a hot bath she would join her friends at the guild hall.

After she unpacked she went into the bath room and ran the bath water. After running her hand under it to make sure it was the right tempature she dropped her towel and let her body relax in the soothing water. As she let her body relax her let her thoughts wonder. In such a short amount of time so much had happened. After everyone apologized for that whole incident with Lisanna things seemed to change. They hadn't really gone on a mission as a group and for some reason the guys were trying to only spend time with her, not that she really minded. Lucy suddenly remembered the conversations he had with Levy in the hot springs.

As her eyes shot open her heart started racing. /How could I have forgotten/ she thought to herself as she placed her hands on her head in a sort of panic. She had been so focused on the things happening between her and Gray that she completely lost track of the time. Not remembering what day was she had to think back to all the events that had occurred in between the time of the hot springs to now.

_**Lets see... It was Wednesday when Levy gave me the ultimatum, then the next day was when I accidently kissed Gray, the day after Gray came over and kissed me out of no where, then yesterday Natsu and I went out on a job with Lisanna tagging along.** _"So that makes today..." after counting the order of the events on her hand it suddenly dawned on her "SUNDAY" She yelled out suddenly. She couldn't believe how time had gotten away from her so fast. She had to tell him her feelings tomorrow and she was still no where near prepared.

She wasn't mentally prepared for the rejection she might receive and the fact that if he rejects her that it might ruin their friendship as well. With less then a day left she decided not to go to the guild hall today but some place where no one in the guild knew of.

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Well guys after a month or so we finally got internet. I will post all the chapters I have written in all that time I hope you enjoy


	12. Things don't go as planned

**I don't own Fairy Tail :( But I do own this fanfic. Here's chapter 10 Enjoy :D**

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It had been an hour since she had finished her bath and left her house and now the blonde was sitting in front of Karen's grave. She felt bad for going to the grave of another guilds desist member but this was the only spot she knew of that no one else in the guild knew about, well except for Loke of course. She thought this spot would be perfect not only for the reason that no one knew of it but also the setting surrounding it was simply beautiful. On the single rock ledge held Karen Lilica's grave and surrounding it was not only a beautiful but huge waterfall.

The only problem was that being in such a place with only her thoughts she ended up doing the worst possible thing she could. Laying on the ledge as the mist from the waterfall splashed onto her face all she could do was think of the worse possible scenarios of how tomorrow could go. Which in doing so was making her more nervous then she was already, and when she wasn't thinking about Natsu her mind would wonder to Gray.

"What are you doing here?" a familiar male voice asked. Knowing full well who her male visitor was the blonde sat up and glanced over her shoulder. "The better question is why did you pass through the gate without me summoning you here, Loke?"

"That's simple" he replied as he pushed up his glasses and gave his key holder a flirtatious smile "I had a feeling my princess was distressed so as your knight I had to come make sure you were ok."

"Well don't worry" Lucy replied "I'm fine so you can go back to the spirit world. I'm just here thinking about some things." Since Loke had become her spirit she had become used to his flirtatious ways so comments like that didn't faze her much.

"Is it about your feelings for Natsu?" That question however did surprise her "How did you..." Taking a seat next to her he explained.

"As celestial spirits we are aware of our key holders feelings towards a person and your feelings towards the dragon slayer are very obvious to all of us. However, and I'm sure you're aware of it at this point but there is a certain ice mage has made his feelings for you known as well." All Lucy could do at this point was stare at Loke in shock at how informed he was on everything. "Trust me I've known Gray for a few years now and he rarely shows interest in woman, but with you it's different. So... what are you gonna to do?"

Such a simple question but the blond was no where near ready to answer. "I don't know" was all she could say. "I know this is all confusing" the celestial lion spirit said in a comforting but serious tone "but you need to think long and hard about this. How exactly do you feel about Gray?" Looking up at the sky she closed her eyes for a second as she pictured the ice mage in her mind then turning to look at Loke she replied.

"Well I like him. He's such an amazing wizard and a very handsome guy. Even though he has the habit to strip his clothes it's so easy to look past it and see all his other great qualities. He's so sweet and always there for me when I need him. Even though he fights with Natsu all the time he acknowledges him as a good friend and though he's serious most of the time he can be goofy too." Letting out a sigh she turned her gaze away from the celestial spirit and looked back up at the sky. "I think if I had joined the guild another way the outcome of my feelings could have been different I mean it's not like they are set in stone or anything but it seem's my heart has made a choice. Meeting Natsu, I don't want to say it was fate but in a way it kind of was. Running into him in Hargeon, him being a member of the guild of my dreams and helping me join Fairy Tail and then us forming a team, it all seems sareal in its own way. I've seen him do some amazing things in all of the fights he's been in. His characteristics are almost identical to Grays but at the same time they are different too. They are both exceptional wizards, no doubt about it. Natsu acts so goofy but when it comes down to it he takes any fight he's in seriously. Although he is very destructive on jobs he makes sure to give it his all."

"And what about Lisanna?" Loke spoke suddenly "I know you are aware of her feelings towards Natsu. They've had a sort of connection since they were kids. I'm not sure what Natsu's feelings are towards either of you but if he were to choose her would you be able to handle it? Are you sure you want to put your heart on the line for a 50/50 shot that his feelings for you will be the same?"

Lucy could feel tears forming up in her eyes at that moment. She was a little scared to take that chance but if she didn't then she'd never know. "I won't know until I try" She replied as she wiped away the tears in her eyes "If he doesn't return my feeling I will be hurt but I'll get past it. I know it will be hard but If I don't try then I'll always wonder what if."

Letting out a satisfied chuckle the celestial spirit got up off the ground and dusted the dirt off of his pants "Well I'll admit you've become stronger in more ways then one Lucy but I'll ask you one more question before I take my leave back to the celestial world." Looking up at the spirit she raised an eyebrow in curiosity "If his feelings for you aren't the same then what will you do knowing that someone else has feelings for you? Because it's obvious to me that somewhere in your heart you see Gray as more then just a friend but will you let the heartache of rejection be your reason for ignoring his feelings?"

Although Loke had feelings for his key holder he knew that the closest thing he could have with her was flirting. Along with a list of many things not only was taking the life of a key holder forbidden but having any sort of romantic relationship with a key holder was taboo as well. Putting that thought into Lucys head Loke took his leave and somewhere in the shadows someone who had been listening in on the whole conversation between the two took their leave from the scene with a smile on their face.

After Loke left Lucy sat there pondering that thought. After Gray kissed her that night he left the ball in her court as to what she would do with the information she now possessed. She knew that she had to talk to him about it, but maybe it would be best to talk to him after to talked to Natsu. She knew it was wrong to set his feelings aside while she focused on her own but she didn't know what else to do. Looking up at the sky she realized that the sun was started to set. Her talk with Loke had really helped out a lot. She had been so lost in their conversation that she failed to realize how fast time had flown by.

Standing up she dusted off her skirt and took her leave from Karen's grave deciding to head home and relax for the night. She figured that after her talk with Loke there was no sense thinking about the matter any further tomorrow would decide the outcome of everything and whether good or bad she would accept it. As she walked home it dawned on her that one of the most flirtatious and womanizing spirits she had in her possession had really helped her figure out her problems. She couldn't help but chuckle at the thought. Lucy knew Loke was a very reliable spirit and a good friend but she never thought that being the playboy he is he'd be the one giving her good advice on romance.

On her way home Lucy spent most of the time looking up at the sky as it turned into a dark blue sky with beautifully lit stars. When she finally reached her house she spent half an hour trying to work on her novel but anxiety and nerves started taking over so she decided to turn in early.

**Monday morning at Lucys house**

That morning Lucy woke up with butterflies in her stomach. Today was the day that she was finally going to tell her best friend her feelings for him. When she finally got out of bed the blonde walked to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face. Afterwards she walked over to her closet and scanned all of her clothes, she wanted to look especially cute today. After selecting a violet purple tank top, a black skirt and violet colored heels she had made the decision to style her hair a different way but seeing as how she couldn't think of anything she searched her keys and grabbed hold of Cancer's key.

"Open! Gate of the crab! Cancer!" Suddenly the celestial spirit Cancer appeared in front of the blonde, "How would you like your hair to look -ebi?" "Make me look cute!" the blonde requested as she took a seat in front of the spirit. "You got it -ebi" The crab spirit said as he started working on her hair. In the end the spirit left Lucys hair down but gave her some loose curls.

After everything was done she checked herself once more and headed for the door. Upon opening the door Lucy noticed she had a guest waiting outside her door. "Lisanna" Lucy said a bit shocked "What are you doing here?" It was obvious something was bothering the youngest take over mage, it was practically written all over her face. "Lucy, I'm sorry to come over so suddenly but I have something I need to talk to you about." "Sure come on in and we can talk about it" Lucy said as she moved her back towards the door waved her hand for Lisanna to come inside. "So what's bothering you?" Lucy said as took a seat on the couch. "Well you see..." Lisanna said hesitantly "it's about Natsu."

Hearing that made Lucy's heart race. She had a feeling what Lisanna wanted to talk to her about but she was praying she was wrong. "What about Natsu?" Lucy said trying to keep her voice as composed as she could. "Well you see after I returned from Edolas and being able to be around the Natsu that I had grown up with the feelings I had for him started coming back." At that point Lucy's heart suddenly felt heavy. "Don't get me wrong the Edolas Natsu was great but he just wasn't the same. Normally I'd talk to Mira about this but things have been so crazy at the guild that she's been so busy and I feel like you and I are good enough friends that I can tell you anything."

Though the words had came out of her mouth all of it wasn't entirely true. It was true that her feelings for the Dragon Slayer had never left her heart and under different circumstances she did see the blonde as a friend but in her mind Natsu was hers and no one elses. After talking to Levy and finding out what Lucy had planned for today Lisanna cooked up a scheme on how today was going to go, and her arriving at Lucy's house was only step one. "Since Natsu's not to aware of his own feelings I was thinking about asking him out today. What do you think?"

As Lucy listened to Lisanna all she could do at that moment was sit in silence. Listening to Lisanna not only confess to her about her feelings for Natsu but to top it all off she had just admitted to wanting to tell him her feelings as well.

As the room fell silent Lisanna looked over at the blonde who was deep in thought "Lucy?" the young take over mage called out as she waved her hand in front of Lucys face to get her attention. "Huh?!" The blonde said as she suddenly snapped out of her trance. Giving her a worried look Lisanna asked, "Are you ok Lucy? Did something I said bother you?"

_**OF COURSE IT BOTHERS ME! WHY OF ALL DAYS DID YOU CHOOSE TO DO THIS TODAY?**_Not wanting to be a bad friend she put on a fake smile and replied, "Uh y-yeah I'm just happy for you that's all?"

"Great" Lisanna said cheerfully as she clapped her hands together "Because I have a small favor to ask of you?" Out of curiosity Lucy raised a brow slightly and asked, "What is it?"

"Well as you can tell I am really nervous about asking him out and I was just wondering if you could come with me to the guild and sit on the sidelines? You know for moral support." Lucy couldn't believe it. Upon hearing Lisanna's request the blondes brown orbs widened in shock. "What do you say?" Lisanna asked with a nervous smile on her face. _**NO!**_the blonde shouted angrily in her head. "A-Are you sure you really need me there? I mean I'm sure you'd do fine by yourself?" Not only did Lucy not feel like going to the guild hall but she defiantly didn't feel like going to watch Lisanna ask out her best friend and crush. "Of course I need you there" Lisanna said, her voice sounding frantic "Lucy with you there I will have the courage to go through with it." As her hands intertwined she looked at Lucy with pleading eyes "Please say you'll come?"

As much as she knew she would regret going how could she possibly say no. "Okay I'll go" Lucy replied. As the words left Lucys mouth she could some how feel her heart breaking. She didn't know what Natsu would say but just the fact that there was a chance he might say yes made her heart ache. A smile spread across Lisanna's face as she gave Lucy a hug. _**Step two complete** _she thought to herself as an evil smirk spread across her face to where the blonde wouldn't see. Since learning of Lucy's feelings for Natsu Lisanna had asked around the guild about the blonde and had come across some information about her being very kind hearted. She knew with the right words she could make that kindness Lucy possessed work to her advantage.

"By the way" Lisanna said as they were walking out Lucy's front door "You look really pretty today Lucy! Were you planning on going somewhere?" Looking down at her outfit she couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed that all that work had all been for nothing but all she could do was flash Mira's little sister a forced smile, "No where special."

**A couple of minutes later**

Upon arriving at the guild two anxious young mages walked through the guild doors both scanning the room for a certain fire wizard unfortunately for Lucy Lisanna had the luck of finding him first. As Lisanna made her way to Natsu Lucy walked over to the nearest table however, the nearest table was quite a ways away from where they were sitting so she couldn't hear much but the view was decent.

Watching the two as closely as she could she attempted to mouth read what they were saying. To bad for the blonde she was never really good at reading peoples mouths and it didn't help that Natsu would only turn his head over so often because he was eating. Suddenly, Lucy felt as if her heart had been shattered into a million pieces. Just a few minutes had passed when Lucy noticed Natsu turned his head to Lisanna, he had said something but she couldn't quite make it out, nod his head and give her a huge grin. Then afterwards Lisanna smiled and gave him a hug as if she got the answer she was hoping for.

**With Lisanna and Natsu**

_After spotting the pink haired Dragon Slayer Lisanna rushed over to fill the seat next to him. Looking to make sure the blonde could see them she put on a sort of nervous expression Time for Step three. I gotta make this look good "U-Um Na-Natsu" Lisanna said in a hesitant voice. "Hey Lisanna! What's up?" "Um well you see.. I know you, Lucy Gray and Erza are a team but I was just wondering... Elfman and I were talking about going on a job and since Mira doesn't go out on jobs anymore I thought maybe... you might like to join us?"_

_"Of course I would. I'm sure the guys wouldn't mind." Natsu said happily as a grin spread across his face. Quickly glancing from the corner of her eye to make sure Lucy was still watching Lisanna smiled as she swiftly captured Natsu in an embracing hug._

**Back to Lucy**

Not wanting to look at the two anymore Lucy decided to go to the beach behind the girls dorm on Fairy Hill. She didn't really know what she could do at the beach alone and feeling the way she did, but she knew she didn't want to be at the guild nor did she want to be home.

"Hey Lu" Levy Greeted. At the time Lucy was about to exit the guild Levy and the rest of Team Shadow Gear had just arrived back from a job. "So" Levy said in a whisper as she leaned closer to Lucy "did you tell him?" Not wanting to say anything Lucy just shook her head. "Don't tell me you chickened out?" Levy teased "Do I need to go over there myself and tell him? We had a deal, remember?"

Standing in silence Levy looked at her friend and realized she was upset "Are you ok Lucy?" Levy asked now concerned about her friend "What happened?"

Not saying a word Lucy grabbed Levys arm and walked outside. After they exited the guild and the doors were shut behind them is when Lucy felt she could tell Levy. "Ok Lucy what happed? Tell me!"

"I couldn't tell him" was all she said before being interrupted by Levy. "Why? Are you nervous? Lucy I'm sure everything will be fi-" "No!" Lucy said interrupting her friend before she could finish her sentence. "I couldn't tell him because... Lisanna" It took all her will power to keep herself from crying at that moment.

"Lisanna?" Levy asked "What about her? I know she had feelings for him back then but does she still like him?" Getting only a nod as a response Levy's Hazel eye's widened in surprise "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. She came by my house earlier as I was about to leave for the guild. She said that she felt I was a good enough friend to talk to me because Mira was busy. We sat on my couch and she flat out told me she still had feeling for Natsu. She had even asked my opinion on whether she should ask him on a date today."

"Lucy" Levy said with sadness and concern. Hearing what Lucy had said made her feel really bad. "What did you say?"

"What else could I say?" Lucy said tears now falling from her eyes "I told her that she should because I wanted to be a supportive friend. Then she asked me if I'd come with her. She said that she would feel more comfortable if I was there while she did it. I tried getting out of it but she said that she would feel better with a friend there supporting her. So in the end I had to watch from across the guild hall as she told him. I hadn't even been to sure what his answer was until I saw her smile and hug him."

"Oh Lu" Levy said sadly "Are you going to be ok? Do you want to go somewhere and hang out? We could go to my room in the girls dorm, if you'd like?"

"Thanks but I think I just need to be by myself for a while" Lucy answered as she wiped away the strands of tears that flowed down her face "I'll talk to you tomorrow." Standing there watching Lucy walk in the direction of her house Levy couldn't help but think _**Why did Lisanna choose today to feel the need to tell Natsu when she knew that Lucy had planned to confess to him today. Did she plan all of this? Something about this whole thing didn't sit right.**_

Meanwhile inside the guild, Lucy had failed to notice that Gray had been watching her the whole time. He had wanted to join her but when he noticed her gaze had been locked on Natsu and Lisanna from the moment she sat down he decided to sit back and watch. It wasn't until she got up and was preparing to leave when he noticed her solemn expression had change to what looked like depression that he was about to get up and follow her when suddenly someone appeared next to him.

"Does Lucy know you're here?" Gray spoke as he turned to face Loke. Taking a seat next to him Loke simply answered "No! I came through the gate on my own because I needed to talk to you." Raising a brow in confusion the ice make mage sat in silence as he let his friend continue "You heard our whole conversation yesterday didn't you?"

"Yeah!" Gray admitted "When did you realize I was there?" Letting out a soft chuckle Loke replied "From the moment I arrived."

"I should have known." Gray replied before taking a sip of his water. Pushing his sunglasses up to the bridge of his nose Loke spoke with a serious tone "The question now is what are you going to do? Since you know who she has feelings for are you going to fight for her or are you going to let her go?"

"Look man, you and I have been friends long enough for you to already know what I have planned." Gray answered with a smirk on her face "Of course" the lion spirit replied "You know it won't be easy."

"I know" his tone now a little lower with more seriousness to it, "All I want is for her to be happy, and until she says otherwise I will do what I can to see to it that I'm the one who can make her happy."

"I'm glad to hear it." Loke said while placing a comforting hand on his shoulder "Because as a friend and as one of her celestial spirits I want nothing else but to see her happy." Standing up from his seat he was about to take his leave back to the spirit world when he felt the need to add one more thing, "By the way, if you still planned on going after her she's at the beach behind the girls dorm." Looking at Gray Loke thought to himself _**You better be sure of your decision Gray! You may not realize it but I can tell that your heart has started tilting some of its feelings towards another. I just hope you figure it out before it's to late.**_With that final thought Loke returned to the spirit world.

Gray could only chuckle at his friends last minute helpful hint. Loke always seemed to know exactly what he was wanting to know before he even had to ask. Knowing she was at the beach was more then enough information for him to casually run into her at the beach. After witnessing the whole scene between Natsu and Lisanna Gray knew the blonde was upset. He didn't know exactly what the two had been talking about and judging from where she was sitting Lucy couldn't have known either, but something happened that made her upset and Gray wanted to be the one to cheer her up.

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**So yeah Lisanna is a sneaky little B***h. I don't really hate her character in the anime but I don't support NaLi. In my opinion if Natsu should be with anyone it should be with Lucy. As for Gray I don't really want him with Juvia but if he can't be with Lucy I guess she would be good for him.**

**Here's a question that's been on my mind. If after they beat Lyon on that island and he had joined Fairy Tail. If he had been there when Phantom was trying to take Lucy and fought Juvia do you think she would have fallen for him or no?**


	13. Let's go to Acane resort

**Just a reminder I don't own Fairy Tail in any way, shape or form**

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After grabbing a few things from his house Gray had arrived at the beach where out in the distance he noticed the blonde on the beach alone. She wasn't doing much from what he could tell. From where he was standing at that point all he saw was a blonde figure laying down on a towel.

As he got closer he knew it was her cause he noticed a bag containing a spare change of clothes, an extra towel and her keys sitting right next to her. Since her eye's were closed she didn't realize someone else was with her. "Hey Lu..." suddenly he was at a loss for words as he starred at her. _**Holy...she's...shes...** _What he had failed to notice when he was walking towards her was that even though she was wearing her bikini bottoms she had removed her top completely and sat it on the other side of her.

As her eye's re-adjusted to the sunlight Lucy slowly recognized who was now on the beach with her. She had thought she had heard a voice but wasn't 100% sure so she thought she'd look and see. When she realized the unexpected visitor was Gray she gave him a weak smile as she moved her chest up slightly using her arms to support her "Hey Gray" she greeted the still silent ice mage. For some reason his cheeks were a bright red and all he could do was stare at her "Uh Gray are you ok?" she asked a bit worried.

"Uh... Lucy" Gray hesitantly pointed his finger towards the top piece of the swim suit that was still laying next to her. As her gaze followed his finger she noticed her bikini top then looked down to see her bare chest that was only being covered by her hands. After her brown orbs widened in shock she frantically grabbed the fabric and turned away from the ice mage.

As his gaze looked at anything other then the blonde as she put her bikini top on it was then that he knew for sure something was bothering her. Normally something like that would result in her hitting him and yelling at him not to look, but this time she didn't. When she finished putting it on she tried to hide her embarrassment by changing the subject "S-So what are you doing here?" she asked nervously trying to hide the blush of embarrassment on her face.

"Uh...well you see..." scratching the back of his head he tried to focus on other things to distract him since his mind was still preoccupied on what had just occurred and he was having trouble getting his words out. After taking a second to compose himself he cleared his throat and continued "I decided to take a break from job requests for the day and come down here and relax. You know catch some rays." Unbuttoning his already halfway unbuttoned shirt he sat his stuff down and took a seat near the celestial wizard "So what are you doing here all by yourself?"

"I just.. I needed some time to myself" the some what content tone she had a second ago suddenly sounded sad. "Do you want to talk to me about it?" Gray asked sincerely. "No it's ok. Thanks anyway though." she replied sadly. _**I need to do something to make her smile**_ the raven haired boy thought.

"You know what this reminds me of Luce?" Gray asked as he looked around the beach then at the blonde who gave him a questioning look "This reminds me of the beach at Akane Resort."

"We did have a lot of fun there" Lucy added. "So I was thinking" Gray spoke as he laid down on the sand and folded his arms behind his head then turned his gaze back to Lucy "We haven't been there since the whole Jellal fiasco, so I propose we go there within the next few days, just you and me. What do you say?"

Suddenly Lucy's heart started racing "L-Like a date?" She said nervously as she became all to aware of the blush that snuck its way to her cheeks. The thought of going on a date with Gray made her a bit nervous. She still wasn't sure her feelings for the raven haired boy but after having her heart practically ripped out without Natsu even aware that he had done so, was it right for her to still have feelings for Natsu? Of course, she knew that such feeling's for a person wouldn't go away right away but she didn't know how fast she was supposed to let him go and move on.

Trying to hide the blush on his face he raised a brow to try and look confused by her sudden statement. Playing cool Gray responded, "It's up to you if you see it as a date or not. I'm inviting you because I want to cheer you up. Something has clearly made you upset and since you won't tell me I'm taking it upon myself to cheer you up." Even though going on a date with the blonde sounded like a great idea, they had never really discussed things after he kissed her that night as her house so for moment all he could do was act like her friend and hopefully some time at a resort, just the two of them, might change things.

"Ok"she said sounding a bit happier "I'll go". _**Some time away will be good**_ she thought as a genuine smile spread across her face. Looking at Gray she couldn't help but feel grateful. _**He's such an amazingly sweet guy and even though we still haven't talked about the kiss he can tell I'm upset so he's putting it aside to be my friend.** _"Great" Gray replied as he got up off the sand and moved to the other side of her "Now let's get you into the water."

Before she could say a word he slammed his fist to his palm "Ice Make: Floor". Within an instant a small portion of the sand that trailed from her to the ocean was now coated in Ice. "Gray what are you doing?" she asked nervously. "Like I said I'm helping you get into the water" Gray answered. "Wa-Wait a minute" the blonde protested as the raven haired mage picked her up and placed her onto the ice. "G-g-g-Gray i-it's c-c-c-cold" she tried protesting again but because she was shivering so much she couldn't speak clearly." Suddenly it wasn't the way he was putting her in the water that bothered her it was the freezing ice under her butt that she had a problem with.

"Well I guess we better hurry and get you into the water, huh?" Gray spoke as he placed his hands on Lucys shoulders and with as much force as he could he pushed her down the trail of ice.

"KYAAAAAAAAAA" Lucy screamed as she slid down the ice at incredible speed. What Lucy failed to notice till it was to late was the ice ramp Gray had slyly put at the end of the ice trail. Not only did Gray force her into the water but he made sure she did so with a splash, literally.

After hitting the water Lucy swam up to the surface bringing her head up above water. Using her hands to move the strands of wet hair out of her face she opened her eyes only to be splashed in the face by more water as Gray came diving in the water the same way.

After Gray came up from under the water he used his hands to remove some of the water off of his face. "You jerk!" Lucy said angrily as she splashed him in the face with water "What did you do that for?"

After removing the water from his face for the second time he looked at the blonde and smirked "You're not upset anymore are you?" Without saying a word Lucy just looked at the ice mage in confusion. Letting out a chuckle Gray explained himself "I did it so you'd forget about whatever was bothering you before and focus on what's happening here and now. It's not like you to be gloomy, that's Gajeel's job." She couldn't help but chuckle when he said that. "No, the Lucy I know is very cheerful and at times scary person. You always have a smile on your face unless we barge into your house. So whatever happened to you earlier, I say forget it and go back to being your usual bubbly self."

Not giving the blonde a chance to respond Gray swam back under the water. "Thank you" She said in barely a whisper. After swimming for a bit she decided to swim back to the beach. She didn't want to stay in the water any longer and come out looking like a wrinkly prune.

When she reached the beach she grabbed the spare towel she had in her bag and dried herself off. Once she was dry she took a seat on the towel she had lying on the sand and watched as Gray swam in the water. _**Though his plan was ridiculous his intentions were good** _

About an hour later the sun had begun setting and was now painting the sky with a beautiful mixture of colors. As the air became a bit more chilled Gray came out from the water. After throwing him his towel Lucy threw on her spare clothes over her bathing suit and gathered her things into her bag. "Thank you for today Gray" She said with a smile on her face. "No problem" Gray replied as he slipped on his shirt not bothering to button it up "Once I get the tickets to Akane Resort I'll let you know. It should be some time within the next few days."

"I'm looking forward to it" She spoke giving him an approving nod. Once they gathered their things Gray walked her to her house and then headed home.

**The next day - At the guild hall**

It was half past four and as much as she dreaded it Lucy tried her best to act like her usual self. She arrived at the guild hall about an hour ago with a forced smile on her face. She arrived later then usual because she had spent most of the morning mentally preparing herself for whatever might happen.

The last thing she wanted was to see Natsu and Lisanna together but there was a good possibility that it would happen. If in fact they were going out Lucy wanted it to look as if she was sincerely happy for the two when that wasn't the case. She spent an hour or so laying in bed thinking about it, then she sat in the bath and spent sometime thinking about it even while getting dressed it was all she could think about it

Greeting most of the guild members she took that chance to search the guild hall for the young take over mage. Relieved that she was no where in site she took a seat next to Natsu and Happy at the bar where the two had been in the middle of eating. Natsu hadn't said anything to her about what happened yesterday with Lisanna. She didn't know if Natsu was the type of person who liked to talk to people about that sort of thing but the something about it brought a feeling of unease to her.

"S-So" Lucy spoke suddenly breaking the silence that lingered between her and the eating Dragon Slayer. The words escaped her mouth so fast wanting to make things less awkward for herself that she didn't know what to talk about. With his eyes now on her she decided to improvise "Do you have any jobs picked out for us to go on? If we don't go on a job soon I won't have any money for food."

It was a lie and she knew it. After the previous job that they had taken she had more then enough money that she was able to pay her rent and have money left over. Even though she didn't cook much she liked to keep her house stocked with food just in case Natsu, Happy, Erza and Gray dropped by unexpectedly, which they did a lot. The main food thieves just almost always happened to be Natsu and Happy.

"It's your turn to pick the job" Natsu pointed out "Happy and I picked the job last time." With a half smile and a nod she got up and walked over to the request board. _**Why hasn't he said anything about Lisanna?** _she pondered as she gazed at the board _**Does he not like talking about that kind of stuff? Or does he not want to talk about it with me? It's hard enough acting like I normally do but it's obvious from what I saw yesterday that Lisanna got the answer she was hoping for.** _

"Natsu" Happy yelled "Lucy's making a ugly face while she stares at the job requests." Sometime in between her thoughts Happy had flew next to her. Placing his hands behind his head Natsu walked up behind the two. "Have you found a good one yet?"

"Um" Quickly scanning the board she glanced over the rewards not even bothering to read the requests the first reward that a reasonable amount she yanked it off and handed it to Natsu.

After reading the paper Natsu handed it back to Lucy. "You want to work at 8island again?" Natsu questioned. After hearing him ask that she read the random piece of paper the yanked off of the board.

**Request: Looking for wizards to be waiters/waitresses for a day. 60,000J - Yajima **

"Um...Yeah. We haven't seen Yajima since before the whole Nirvana incident so I thought it'd be perfect. Plus you can eat all the food you want while we are there" She knew Natsu had been a bit unsure about it since they would have to use transportation to get there to get there so she had to say something that would get him to agree.

Thinking back to all the different foods he ate that day made his mouth water. "I'm all fired up" He said with enthusiasm and excitement "When do we leave?"

After letting out a sigh Lucy answered, "We'll head out tomorrow morning. I'll go talk to Erza and see if she'd like to join us."

"What about old droopy eyes?" Natsu asked looking around the guild expecting him to pop out and start a fight with him. "I haven't seen him around." Lucy answered while she too looked around the guild for the raven haired mage "If I run into him later I'll ask but for now I'm going to talk to Erza."

"I guess, but I say the job would be better without that pervy flasher. Come on Happy lets go."

"Where are you going?" She asked curiously. Throwing his back on his back he answered, "I heard that some where outside of Oak town there were reports of a salamander. I thought I'd go and check for myself."

"Geez Natsu, don't you remember what happened last time?" She asked feeling a bit skeptical "You arrived in Hargeon looking for a salamander and it turned out to be some poser using that name."

"Yeah, but what if this time is different?" Natsu asked "I haven't given up on Igneel. I know he's out there some where and if I can get some kind of clue in Oak town then I am willing to take that chance."

"Alright" Lucy answered him, knowing there was no way of changing his mind. "We'll meet up tomorrow morning at my house." After Natsu exited the guild Lucy took a seat next to Erza.

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**So this chapter was a bit shorter then normal but I hope everyone enjoyed it**


	14. It may take some time but

"Hey Mira" Gray called to the eldest take over mage as he took a seat at the bar.

"Oh hello Gray!" Mira happily greeted. "Do you need something?"

"Well, actually yeah! Have you seen Lucy around? I needed to talk to her about something!"

"Yeah! She, Natsu, Happy and Erza went off an a job." Lisanna said popping up from behind the bar.

"You're working the bar today too Lisanna?" Gray asked, briefly changing the subject.

"Yeah! It was pretty busy earlier so I offered Mira a hand. So...what do you want to talk to Lucy about?" Lisanna asked curiously.

"Uh...well you see...it's just I invited Lucy to Acane Resort a few days ago and I was going to talk to her about it." Suddenly Mira's eye's lit up, "Are you two going on a date? Don't tell me you've fallen for Fairy Tails very own celestial wizard" she teased a bit to loud causing some of the guild members to look in their direction.

"N-No it's just that she's seemed stressed lately so I thought a trip to Acane would be good for her. Gray explained.

"I've never been to Acane before" Lisanna blurted out "Could I go too?" Not wanting to be rude Gray tried to think of the nicest way to tell her no. "Ah.. well.. you see it's just that.." Lisanna could tell by the way Gray kept pausing that his answer was going to be 'No' but there was no way she was going to accept that so she said what she knew would change his mind, "Oh I get it." She said interrupting Gray mid-sentence "You say it's not a date but in fact it actually is a date."

"N-No it's not." Gray tried to argue. "Then why can't I go?" Lisanna asked. Knowing if he said anymore he would be digging himself into an even bigger hole so he decided to give in, "Okay fine! You can go!"

Hearing that Lisanna suddenly felt very excited. "Thank you Gray" she said appreciatively "And you don't have to worry about my ticket, I'll pay for it myself."

After all that was said and done Lisanna and Mira went back to working the bar and Gray went to the table that Elfman and Cana were sitting at, and almost soon after was joined by the blue haired water mage Juvia who took a seat right next to Gray.

**Meanwhile at 8 island**

"Hello and welcome" Lucy greeted a young couple who were sitting at one of the restaurants booths "Have you decided on what you'd like to order?"

Just like the first time they worked at 8 island Lucy wore an orange waitress uniform with frills on the top that stopped a little above the knee, the restaurants name written across her chest and a white apron wrapped around her waist, leg high stockings and brown heels. She stood there and wrote down the couples order as they listed what they wanted to eat.

After she finished with that table a table full of women who looked to be in their mid forties called her over to take their order.

As she was taking the third womans order Natsu walked up behind her. Since what drew him into doing this job again was the food he would get to eat it was no shocker to see his mouth stuffed with food as he brought the customers their food, or what was left of it anyways.

At that moment she couldn't help but admire how handsome Natsu looked in his waiters uniform. Even though his sleeves were rolled up a bit the white dress shirt, the black vest he had over it, the black dress pants and his dress shoes suited him well. Of course Natsu wouldn't be Natsu if he didn't wear the scarf given to him by Igneel, which he wore religiously.

Turning to head to the kitchen Lucy noticed Erza, who wore the same waitress uniform she did, strutting to a table that held to men and seductively placing her leg on the table asked that what they would like to order.

Since the restaurant had opened business had been booming. People from all over were coming by to eat the delicious food that was made by Yajima.

Compared to the first time they worked for Yajima things this time were more fast paced since the tables would fill up so fast. The good thing about it being busy was that it made their day go by quick.

The sun was starting to go down by the time 8 islands was cleaned up and closed for the night.

Standing outside Natsu, Happy, Lucy and Erza stood infront of the carriage with Yajima. "Thank you for all your hard work today." Yajima said appreciatively "It never cease to amaze me how hard you youngsters work."

"It was our pleasure Yajima. It seems like everyone really enjoys your food." Erza complimented.

"Yes." Yajima nodded his head in agreement "It's hard to believe how popular my food has become over the short amount of time."

"You got that right ~I'm stuffed" Natsu said sitting on a bench rubbing his belly.

"Geez Natsu! It seems like you ate more food today then you did the first time we worked here." Lucy stated staring at the dragon slayer sat rubbing his oversized belly.

"I couldn't help it." Natsu answered with a bored tone causing the blonde to roll her eyes. She had expected him to eat some of the food but throughout the whole day it seemed like he was picking food off of every single plate.

"Well we better get going" Erza said sternly staring at the carriage that had arrived and was waiting on them.

After much fighting in the end Natsu had to be dragged onto the carriage by Erza. The trip back to Magnolia was the same as always. Erza sitting across from the motion sick fire mage who was spread out across the carriage with his mouth puffing out every so often like he was going to throw up, and Lucy sitting next to him with Plue in her lap.

They reached the guild hall Lucy along with Plue, Erza and Happy got off the carriage with a still nauseous Natsu trailing behind them.

After walking through the guild doors Erza and Lucy walked throughout the almost empty guild hall. It was pretty late and most of the members had gone home. "Well Hello!" Mira cheerfully greeted the group. "Hey Mira" Lucy greeted back "What are you still going here?"

"Oh, I was just finishing up" Mira answered "I'll be heading home shortly. What about you four? You must be exhausted from your job today shouldn't you be home resting?"

"We just came to give the master our report." Erza said with a stern tone before putting the fork full of cake into her mouth. "The only reason it took so long is because someone" Lucy looked back at Natsu, who was talking to Cana, then turned back to Mira "didn't want to get on the carriage so we could head back. It wasn't until Erza said something that he finally got on it."

"Goodness" Mira said with a soft chuckle "Well while you're here would you like something to eat? There's still food left if you're hungry."

"No thanks." Lucy declined politely "I'm pretty tired so I think I'm gonna head home." Just as she turned to walk away Mira called out to her, "Oh Lucy" after turning back to face her she leaned over the bar so what she told the celestial wizard was said in a whisper, "I forgot to tell you that Gray stopped by here earlier today looking for you."

"Did he say what he wanted?" Lucy asked Mira in the same hushed tone. "He said something about talking to you about your trip to Acane Resort. So..." Mira's tone changed from a casual whisper to a suspicious yet teasing whisper "When were you going to tell me that you and Gray were dating?"

"W-What?" Lucy said in shock as a blush crept onto her face "M-Mira you've got it all wrong. It's not a date. Y-You see Gray ran into me while I was at the beach the other day and he saw I was pretty stressed so he invited me to Acane Resort to get away and relax. T-That's all"

Letting out another soft chuckle "Okay" Mira said as she winked to the still blushing blonde. "I-I'm serious Mira. We're just going as friends." Lucy tried to defend herself but knew full well that Mira had her suspicions. "I'm heading home." Lucy said feeling even more exhausted then she had before. "See you guys tomorrow."

"Can you believe that Plue?" Lucy said as she walked along the side of the canal "Gray even said it himself. The trip was a way to help me relax and nothing more."

"Puu-Puun"

"Yeah I know." She replied back as if she understood what her little celestial spirit had said "I know Gray had expressed his feeling towards me the other day and we still hadn't talked about it, but..." She stopped walking for a minute and looked up at the night sky thinking back to Natsu and Lisanna and what she had witnessed Monday.

"I just don't know if I'm over him yet." She said looking down at Plue "Does it seem right for my heart to move on so quickly?"

"Puu-Puun"

"You're right!" Lucy said continuing her one sided conversation "It's not fair to Gray to be kept in the dark. I'll have to find some time to sit down and talk to him about it, soon."

"Puu-Puun"

"You're so smart Plue" Lucy said with a smile as she brought up the spirit to her chest and hugged him. Now standing infront of the stairs to her apartment she looked up the the section that she lived in then back down at Plue "Come on lets go inside and take a nice relaxing bath."

Once she was in her apartment she sat Plue down on the floor, grabbed a towel and went to the bathroom to undress. When she walked into the bathroom she walked over to the bathtub and started running the warm water. While the water filled the tub Lucy took off her clothes and wrapped a towel around her body. After checking the water to make sure it was a good tempterature Lucy grabbed Plue and they got into the bath.

_**What's wrong with me? **_Lucy pondered as she sat in the path with her legs pressed against her and her arms wrapped around her legs /_**Why can't I let myself fall for Gray? He's a great guy, an amazing friend and an awesome wizard. From what I saw at the guild hall it looked like he had clearly accepted her offer to go on a date. Meaning that whatever shot I could of had is gone. So what's holding me back from letting Gray in?**_/

Laying her head back against the tub Lucy couldn't help but think back to when her feelings for Natsu first appeared.

**Flashback**

I had been an unusually boring day in the guild hall. Lucy had sat with her head on the bar when Mira came over and started talking to her. She had brought up the topic of taking a job which Lucy answered with a pout, "Because Natsu said he needed a little rest."

"Why don't you take a job by yourself or with another team?" Mira asked while drying a plate. "The thing is I kinda feel obligated to team up with him..." Lucy answered back. After Lucy said that is when Mira started thoughts into her head.

"You do get along rather well" Mira said before placing a hand on her face, "Just like a couple in love!" After hearing Mira say that Lucy tried to deny it but then Mira went on and added, "But, Natsu might have feelings for you..." Before Lucy could say anything they were interrupted by a bunch of laughing. When she turned around she saw Cana, Elfman, Levy among other guild members laughing as Natsu, Happy and Plue stood atop one of the tables doing some sort of weird dance.

Seeing that display Lucy said, "Even if he did, I wouldn't be interested." Of course being the romantic optimist she was Mira had her hands intertwined in each other as she watched Natsu's little dance happily before looking at Lucy "But I think the two of you would make a lovely couple."

Even though she would deny it Mira was very insistent that they would make a lovely couple. After leaving the guild Mira's words seemed to taunt her the whole way back to her apartment.

After entering her apartment she was surprised to see Natsu sitting in one of her chairs greeting her as she walked in the door. "Yo!" Natsu said with a smile as he stuck his hand in the air.

After she lectured him about entering peoples houses as he pleased he had mentioned something about needing to talk to her. Letting a sigh escape she spoke "You really like it here, don't you?" It was then that Mira's words had came back to haunt her. Suddenly a blush and suddenly she felt really nervous. Now she was starting to panic and all Natsu could do while she did was stare at her and make her feel even more nervous.

"G-G-Get out" she said with a stutter. But Natsu kept insisting that he needed to talk to her. "GET OUT!" she yelled not wanting to hear what he had to say to her. She didn't know how she could handle a confession from him so the only thing she knew to do was kick him out before he could say anything.

Seeming a bit surprised by her sudden out burst Natsu got up and left her apartment by jumping out the window leaving Lucy to calm her fast beating heart.

The next day hadn't been any better. While she was sitting at the guild eating with Plue while reading a book when mid-bite Natsu came up behind her and wrapped his arm around her causing her to freak out and push him away. As soon as she started walking away Gray passed her and she could hear Gray gripe at Natsu about getting back to work. Which started another fight between the two but she didn't stop to watch. On her way out she passed by Macao, Wakaba, Warren and Max who were talking about Natsu having a crush on a girl. Which made her even more nervous about it being her.

But what had really sent her mind into over drive was when Natsu walked up behind her and asked her to meet him at the Sola Tree in Southgate Park at night and when he told her to come alone he blushed. Which made her heart thump even faster. After he ran out of the guild she excused herself for the day and went home.

After readying myself I approached the tree where Natsu was waiting for me. My nerves were about to take over when all of a sudden he mentioned something about bringing out Virgo. Standing there in disbelief I listened to him go on and on about some embarrassing photos of guild members that had been buried a long time ago. He had wanted her to meet him there so Virgo could dig the hole for him which had set her off. After slapping him she ran off feeling some what disappointed.

End flashback

_**Even after all that the feelings that had developed in that short time span didn't seem to disappear they only grew gradually as the time progressed.** _

When the water started to feel cold was when she realized that she had been in the bath to long.

After grabbing Plue out of the water, she started draining the water from the tub then she wrapped a dry towel around herself and exited the bathroom.

After she changed clothes she said goodbye to Plue as he went back to the spirit world. Just as she was about to lay in bed she noticed something laying on her pillow. Picking it up she looked at it closely. It was her ticket to Acane Resort. Looking at the ticket she read that the ticket was for a three day two night trip. Attached to the ticket was a note.

**Here's your ticket. Meet me at the guild tomorrow to discuss the rest of the details. -Gray**

Looking down at the ticket she couldn't help but smile._**It may take some time but maybe it's about time to open up my heart to someone other then Natsu.** _

After putting the ticket on her desk Lucy went to sleep.

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**Uh oh NaLu fans... Lucys thinking about moving on from Natsu. Do you think she'll be able to do it or will her heart stay with him. The only way to get the answer is by reading next chapter.**


	15. Akane Resort

**Ok so I know it's a bit late but here it is Chapter 13...**

**Now just a reminder I in no way own or co-own Fairy Tail.**

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"Oh there you are!" Gray said turning his head to the side to notice the blonde who had just tapped his shoulder. "Yeah! Sorry, I'm late I ended up over sleeping this morning." Lucy said apologetically. "It's cool I just got here not to long ago myself." Gray said with a smile "So did you get your ticket?"

"Yeah!" Lucy said as she took a seat next to the ice mage "I noticed it last night. I'm guessing you let yourself in and put it there?" Gray only nodded his head as he took a sip of his drink and in return received a somewhat annoyed sigh from his friend. "I wish you guys could just use the door like normal people" Lucy said under her breath. "Eh" Gray said as he looked at the blonde with a smirk, "Where's the fun in that?"

Rolling her eyes in response Lucy decided to talk about the reason why she was there in the first place. "So about those tickets..." she let her sentence trail off letting the raven haired mage get the picture on what she was trying to say. "Ah, right about the trip. We will be leaving Friday morning. The tickets are for a 3 day 2 night trip. Unfortunately though when I was booking the rooms they didn't have any single rooms available so we will have to share a room"

Hearing that the blondes brown orbs widened in shock, but before she could protest Gray continued "However, the room itself has two separate beds so even though we will have to share a room we will have our own beds." Gray could only chuckle as he watched Lucys wide eyes relax as she let out a sigh of relief.

"So make sure you are packed and ready by the morning. We can meet up at the train station." Gray informed back down at his cup Gray was debating about telling Lucy an important piece of information. _**Should I tell her Lisanna will be joining us? She seems so excited and if I tell her she might not want to go.** _Gray was knocked out of his thoughts as Lucy placed her hand gently on his arm and looked at him and smiled "Thank you again for doing this Gray"

"Uh Luce" Gray said trying to find a way to tell her. As he looked at her he couldn't help but notice the smile she had. Immediately he regretted inviting Lisanna but that day she had pushed it so much he felt like he had been pushed into a corner. He had promised the day would be just the two of them. But as he stared at her eyes as they stared back at him he couldn't do it. "Uh I just wanted to tell you that the train will arrive at 9 am so don't be late." After she gave another nod she looked over and saw Levy talking to Jet and Droy. "LEVY!" Lucy called out and waved to her blue haired friend. "Thanks again Gray" Lucy said again looking back to Gray who only nodded in response.

After taking a few steps Lucy turned back around to Gray. With out saying a word Lucy walked up behind him surprising the ice make mage as she wrapped her arms around him. The only thing Gray could do at that point was look down at the set of hands wrapped around him shocked by Lucys sudden hug. After she released him from the hug Gray looked back at her in silence still trying to process what had just happened. "I'll see you tomorrow Gray." Lucy said as she walked away missing the nod Gray gave her as his response.

As he continued to look in the direction Lucy was he failed to notice the Scarlet haired woman take a seat next to him. "So" Erza said startling the ice wizard out of his trance sending his heart racing as he turned to face her. "Geez Erza! A little warning would be nice" Gray said in frustration as he tried to calm down it still racing heart. "What was all that about?" Erza asked as she stuck her fork into the piece of cake she had sitting in front of her. "What was what about?" Gray said still a bit annoyed. "Don't play stupid Gray!" Erza demanded some what loudly causing a few heads to turn. Lowering her voice a tad she continued "I saw Lucy hug you. I want to know why?"

"Oh...well...you see I'm treating Lucy to a trip to Acane Resort. Just the two of us." Gray answered. "Is it a date?" Erza asked curiously. "What? No! Of course not! We're going as friends. She's seemed stressed over something but since she won't tell me what it is I figured some time away could help." Gray answered. "But you want it to be?" Erza said not really asking but more like pointing out the obvious. Looking over to Lucy then back to Erza Gray replied "Even if I did I don't think she does."

"You sound like you're giving up!" Erza pointed out. "Of course I'm not!" Gray said with a smirk "I do plan on taking her there to relax, but there are some things that we've failed to discuss that I plan on talking to her about while we are there. There's just one problem..." He let his voice trail off. "What is it?" Erza asked. "I did something that Lucy might not be to happy about." Gray answered with regret in his tone. Raising up a brow in curiosity Erza waited for Gray to continue but he just sat silently. "You're not going to tell me what you did?" Erza asked in a somewhat sterner tone then she had before.

"I-I can't!" Gray said hesitantly afraid of the force Erza might use to get an answer from him but surprisingly she didn't. "I understand!" Erza said in a rather disturbingly calm tone "I just need to say one thing" Erza said as she placed her fork on her plate before sending Gray a death glare as she leaned in towards him "If I find out that whatever you did hurt Lucy in anyway or made her cry I won't think twice about kicking your ass! Got that?"

"Y-Yeah" Gray said fearfully. "Good." Erza said as she got up from her seat, "You two have fun." was the last thing she said before exiting the guild. A little after Erza's 'talk' Gray decided to head home but just as he was about to get up he was suddenly joined by an excited Lisanna. "Oh Gray! I'm glad I caught you." She said with a smile. "What are you so excited about Lisanna?" Gray asked. "Well you see just as I was about to go buy my ticket for Acane resort Mira remembered about the tickets big brother won for her at the flower appreacion day and since they are good for all year around and she wasn't going to use them she gave them to me."

"That's great but...wasn't there two tickets?" Gray asked. "Yeah so that's why I took the liberty of inviting Natsu along with us. I figured you guys wouldn't mind." Lisanna replied happily. Immediately hearing that Gray knew that once Lucy knew that the two of them were coming she would probably end up either angry or upset at him for inviting more people and not telling her about it. "You know what Lisanna" Gray said as he got up from his seat "I'm gonna head out. I've still got some packing to do before tomorrow so just make sure you're at the train station at 9am tomorrow."

Walking away from Lisanna Gray couldn't help but look over to Lucy and she sat at the table with Levy smiling. As much as he wanted to let her know before hand a large part of him didn't want to because he knew that if he did the smile that she had at that moment would probably disappear and he didn't want to be the reason for that. He would just have to explain it to her tomorrow and hopefully she wouldn't be to mad.

**The next morning at the train station**

"Are you sure you don't want to walk Lisanna?" Natsu said feeling a bit anxious about getting on the train. "Come on Natsu" Lisanna said as she stepped onto the train "It's only a short trip by train."

"Yeah but..." Suddenly Natsu paused mid-sentence when his nose caught hold of a familiar scent. "Natsu? Are you ok?" Lisanna asked as she stared at the pink haired male. "I thought I smelt Lucy's scent." Natsu answered as he started looking around. "Natsu!" Lisanna said making Natsu look at her "I told you her and Gray were going to be coming along with us."

"So then why can't we sit with them?" Natsu asked. "Because it look's so crowded. What if we go looking for them and we can't find them? We're all going to the same place so lets just look for them when we arrive, ok?"

"Alright, I guess" Natsu said giving one last glance around for a familiar head of blonde hair. With Lucy no where in sight Natsu and Lisanna got on the train.

**At the head of the train with Gray and Lucy**

"Right on time." Gray said with a smirk as he greeted Lucy. "Have you been here long?" Lucy asked. "Nah, I arrived about 10 minutes ago." Gray answered. "I'm so excited" Lucy said with a smile "I barely slept at all last night. I checked and rechecked my luggage so many times to make sure I had everything for this weekend."

Looking down Gray saw Lucy with her pink luggage. "You got it all to fit into that little thing?"

"We're only gonna be gone for 3 days Gray. How much we're you expecting me to pack?" Lucy asked. "I don't know I just thought you'd have more, that's all. Well anyways let get on the train and find some seats."

"Alright" Lucy said with a nod and a smile "This weekend will be so much fun." Letting her get on first Gray stopped mid step with only one foot in the train. With no sign of that pink haired idiot any where he could only sigh in relief and hope that Lisanna might have changed her mind about coming along. "Gray?" Lucy called back making the raven haired mage put his eyes on her "Are you ok?"

"Uh yeah I'm fine. Come on lets find some seats." Gray said grabbing Lucys hand and guiding her inside the train.

**After the train ride**

"We're finally here!" Lucy said standing at the resorts entrance "It looks even better then the first time we were here." Looking back at Gray he stood behind her looking down at the ground lost in his own thoughts. "Gray?" Lucy said a bit concerned "Are you sure you're ok? Are you sick?"

"Huh! Oh no I'm fine" Gray answered. "Are you sure? You seemed a bit distracted on the train. Did you change you're mind about coming here?" Lucy asked a bit saddened.

"What!" Gray said a bit shocked that she would even think that "Luce, I invited you here so why would I change my mind?" he explained with a chuckle. "Alright" she said not to convinced "So what's bothering you?"

Legging out a sigh Gray looked at Lucy "Well you see... there's been something I've been meaning to tell you. Earlier this week while I was at the guild I was telling Mira about our trip and well L-"

"Gray! Lucy!" a voice called out interrupting Gray. Just as Lucy turned around her eyes opened wide in shock. "Lisanna! What are you doing here?" she asked in disbelief. "Huh?" Lisanna said staring at her in confusion "Didn't Gray tell you we were coming?"

"We? Who's we?" Just as the words came out of her mouth the sight of the picked haired male dragging himself to where they stood "Ugh! Lisanna are we there yet?"

"N-Natsu!" Lucy said in a whisper. _**That was Lucys voice**_ Natsu thought his mind still in a bit of a nauseous haze. "Lucy!" Natsu said looking up flashing her a smile.

**A quick glance into Grays mind as all of this is taking place**

The train ride went by pretty quick. I sat in the seat across from Lucy. As soon as we took our seats she pulled out a book and I pretty much spent the whole ride looking out the window.

After the train arrived I was still trying to decide to tell Lucy. Since there was no sign of Lisanna and Natsu at the train station there was a slim possibility that they weren't coming, but that was just a slim chance.

I was suddenly knocked out of my thoughts when Lucy called out my name. When I looked at her the look on her face said that she was worried. I didn't really think to much about it till she spoke the words "Did you change you're mind about coming here?" There was no way I would let her believe that even for a second that I didn't want to be there so after a minute I decided that even if they decided not to come I would tell her. She had a right to know either way. Well just as I was getting ready to tell her I was suddenly interrupted by Lisanna. Since Lucy had her back turned she didn't notice right away.

"Gray! Lucy!" Lisanna called out. As she called out to us the only thing I could do was curse in my head as I saw her coming closer.

As I turned my attention to Lucy I watched her expression turn from a smile to shock and disbelief. I was at that moment that I was mentally kicking myself for not informing her sooner. I knew i needed to I just couldn't bring myself to and now I have to deal with the choice I made.

It wasn't to long after Lisanna approached us that Natsu was seen trudging behind her. "Lisanna are we there yet?" he asked. I swear that flame brained idiot is hopeless.

"N-Natsu!" I heard Lucy whisper as her eyes focused on Natsu who was smiling at her. I can only hope she doesn't want to cut the trip short and head back.

**Back to what was currently happening**

"Sup Luce!" Natsu said to the blonde. "What are the two of you doing here?" Lucy asked causing Natsu's grin to vanish into a sort of confused look. "Geez Gray" Lisanna blurted out causing all eyes to go on her "You forgot to tell her didn't you?" That question made Lucy look over to the raven haired mage "Forgot to tell me what?"

"Well you see...I meant to tell you but..." Gray started to explain but was cut off "You see Lucy" Lisanna interrupted causing the blondes brown orbs to once again go to her "The other day when Gray was at the guild Mira brought up that she had heard the two of you were taking a trip to Akane Resort. Since I've never been I asked if I could join and Gray agreed. Then Later Mira remembered she till had the tickets Elfman won and offered them to me and since the tickets we're for two I took the liberty of inviting Natsu. I informed Gray of this the other day. I thought he would have let you know, but I guess it slipped his mind."

"Well" Gray said while scratching the back of his head avoiding everyones gaze "what had happened was..."

"It's to late now Gray" Lisanna said interrupting him again "We're already here. And now that we're are here what do you guys say to a quick walk around before we go to the hotel?"

"I'm starving!" Natsu announced "Lets go somewhere and eat."

"Okay!" Lisanna agreed nodding her head "What about you guys? I'm excited to see what all this resort has. Do you want to come with us?"

"I'll tag along" Gray answered before turning to look at Lucy "What about you Luce?"

"Actually you guys I think I'm gonna head towards the hotel" She answered. Hearing that shocked everyone.

"What! Why?" Natsu asked. "I'm just a bit tired, that's all. I didn't get much sleep last night so I'm just gonna head to the hotel and take a nap." She answered.

"In that case I think I'll go with her." Gray announced. "No it's ok." Lucy said declining his company "You guys go have fun and I'll just meet up with everyone later."

"But Lucy..." Gray tried to argue. "It's ok Gray. Go and have fun." She said cutting him off and flashing him a half smile.

Without hearing anymore protests Lucy turned and started walking away. Before she could walk away Gray gently grabbed her slim arm and whispered into her ear, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. Please don't be mad!"

Looking up at him she flashed him a soft smile and whispered back "It's ok Gray. I'm not mad I'm just a but tired. So I'm gonna take a nap" gently placing her hand on the hand that lightly gripped her arm "I'll meet up with you later, I promise."

Feeling a bit relieved Gray let go of Lucy and after she said said her good byes she headed off to the hotel.

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**Ok I know this chapter is a bit late but I have a realllly good excuse. You see I had a serious case of writers block and by writers block I mean *cough* World of Warcraft *cough* Yes readers thats right I play WoW. You see after we got internet I was behind. Since the new expansion they raised the level cap from 85 to 90 and by the time we got internet back it was mid october. Now i know you guys are probably thinking _well that's no excuse what's your point?_ My point is there is this halloween event that goes from the 18th to the 31st and there is a dungeon that you can do once you hit level 89 and if you're lucky you get a rare drop Headless Horseman mount. Well I really want that mount but with me being behind level I was trying to rush level atleast one of my toons. Long story short by the time I got my shaman to 89 I only had about a week before the event was over. Well even though you can run the dungeon as much as you want you only get a chance at the drop once a day. So after I ran it on my shaman I was trying to level my mage but no luck. Yes i know that it is now a few days into November and I am just now posting this chapter well you see I ended up putting leveling my mage on hold and started leveling my monk and my hunter. So I had been playing almost none stop up until now. I apoligize for the wait. I do want you to know that I did have the idea in my head and was slowly writing it down. Well needless to say I finally finised it...**

**Let me know what you think of the chapter and I promise as soon as I think of an idea for the next chapter I will write it and post it A.S.A.P**


	16. At the beach

**You all know the drill... I don't own in any shape or form own Fairy tail.**

**Now enjoy the new chapter. I hope you all like it**

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It was now 1 in the afternoon. Lucy had made it back to the hotel about half an hour ago. She was now laying in one of the beds in hers and Grays hotel room. Unfortunately for her the nap she was hoping to get wasn't coming so easily for her. After she changed and tried resting her eyes her thoughts went back to what had just occurred not to long ago. As she tossed and turned she couldn't help but feel a bit angry.

Even though she had no right to be angry at the raven haired male because to her knowledge he had no clue what was going on with her and her feelings towards Natsu and Lisanna she couldn't help it. Unbeknown to her that Gray was some what aware of what was going on.

"How could he not tell me?" Lucy huffed as she tossed once again and adjusted her pillow rather aggressively.

"This trip was supposed to be just the two of us. A weekend away from the guild and a weekend away from my problems." Lucy continued to grip as she laid on her stomach with her head resting on her arms. "How could he invite my problems on this trip?"

Letting out a frustrated sigh Lucy turned over onto her back "I guess I can't really blame Gray" she voiced "I know that if Gray knew then he wouldn't have invited them but I just can't tell him."

"Ugh!" Lucy said with an aggravated and confused breath as she placed her hands over her face "What am I going to do?"

Throwing her hands back down on the bed laying flat on her sides she continued ranting to herself "I can't just leave early because then they would know something is wrong and Gray went through all this trouble and spent all that money for this trip. But can I really continue like nothings wrong? I'm still not over my feelings for Natsu and seeing him and her here together is only making it harder and more painful for me to try."

"I thought that by coming on this trip and getting away from everything and everyone that maybe... just maybe I could..." she stopped herself mid-sentence not wanting to say it out loud. Turning over onto her side she looked out the window "But now" she continued "I just don't know."

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. "Lucy?" a familiar voice whispered from behind the door "Are you awake?"

Knowing that with everything that was floating threw her head that there was no way she was going to be able to get any kind of rest. Throwing the covers off of her Lucy got out of bed and opened the door.

"Is everything ok Lisanna?" Lucy asked "I thought you were out with looking around the resort with the guys?"

"I was but I just wanted to come by and make sure you were ok with mine and Natsu's intrusion."

"Uh yeah" Lucy said trying to sound convincing "I'm glad y'all came along."

"I'm glad" Lisanna said as she sat on the other bed casting glances to every single corner of the room. Lucy could tell there was something more she wanted to say but soon the room was filled with an awkward silence.

"So" Lisanna said cutting off the silence trying to make conversation before she got to the real reason why she was in Lucy and Grays room "This place is amazing."

"Yeah it is" Lucy answered back.

"Because all of this is making me a bit nervous." Lisanna stated causing Lucy to give her a confusing look.

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked.

"Well you see" Lisanna said with a gleam in her eye that went unnoticed by Lucy "I guess you could say that this trip is mine and Natsu's extended first date."

"Oh" was all Lucy could say. Truth of the matter was that Lisanna had over heard most of what Lucy had been ranting to herself about. Though most of it was difficult to hear with how low she would talk at certain times. Her main goal for this trip was to try and push Lucy onto Gray so she could have Natsu all for herself and maybe in time they could be more then friends.

"Yeah and well I was wondering..." Lucy could tell where that sentence was leading too and the last thing she wanted was to help the person who to her knowledge unknowingly stole her crush with dating advice.

"Uhhhh you know what Lisanna?" Lucy said cutting Lisanna off before she could finish her sentence "I bet the guys are probably wondering what's taking you so long so how about you head back to them and I'll meet up with you guys after I change."

"Oh ok" Lisanna said feeling a bit satisfied at the reaction she was getting from Lucy. So far everything was going according to plan. Now all she had to do was help nudge Gray and Lucy together and then she would have Natsu all to herself.

"Yeah so you head back and I'll meet you in a few." Lucy said practically trying to shove Lisanna out of her room.

"Ok well you can find us on the beach when ever you finish changing." Lisanna said at the doorway.

"The beach? Don't y'all need to drop off your luggage off in your hotel room?" Lucy asked.

"We already did" Lisanna explained "After we finished eating Lunch Natsu brought up the suggestion of going to the beach. So we walked back to our room and changed. I've got my swim suit on under my clothes."

"What about Gray? He never came back to the room?" Lucy asked curiously.

"Well Gray mentioned that he didn't want to wake you from your nap so I let him set his stuff down in my room until you woke up."

"Oh" Lucy said feeling a bit touched by his gesture. "Well you hurry up and change and we'll see you there." Lisanna said before she left Lucys room. Gray. It's in your hands now Lisanna thought to herself with a smirk.

**Flashback**

"Gray?" Lisanna called out "Where are you going?"

"I'm heading to my hotel room to drop my things off and change." Gray answered.

"You don't want to do that. Lucy's sleeping if you go in there now you run the risk of waking her up. Why don't you leave your things in my room for now and then after she wakes up you can put your stuff up." Lisanna offered.

"Yeah I guess you're right!" Gray said before he walked into Lisanna's room.

After Lisanna changed Gray walked into the bathroom to change into his swim trunks and a buttoned down white shirt.

"Gray!" Lisanna called out to the raven haired male who had just appeared from the restroom. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Lisanna knew that in order for her plans to work she had to help push things along and pretending to get the vibe that Gray had a crush on Lucy would do just that. Even though she knew for a fact that he had feelings for her since she had been walking home that night and witnessed what had occurred between the two. Since she hadn't wanted to be seen she hid in the shadows and witnessed their kiss first hand.

"Sure" Gray said as he took a seat in one of the chairs in her room. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to ask what your opinion of Lucy was?" Lisanna asked casually.

Suddenly Gray felt his heart skip a beat. "What do you mean? Lucy's my friend and teammate."

"I don't mean like that! What I mean is do you ever think of her as more then your friend?"

Gray's heart started to race. There's now way she could know Gray thought "She's my friend Lisanna. That's all."

"Oh come on Gray." Lisanna said tired of playing the run around. "I know you like her. It's so obvious." Lisanna said trying to hide the huge grin that was trying to make its way onto her features as she watched Grays orbs widen.

It was then at that moment that Gray had become totally and utterly speechless. Even though he tried so hard to hide his feelings for the blonde he had been found out.

"I take it by your silence that I'm right. Right?" Lisanna said sounding a bit smug. "So the question now is... what are you going to do about it?"

"I wasn't going to do anything." Gray answered. The truth was that Gray had planned something but had been debating whether or not he was actually going to go through with it.

"You've gotta be kidding me" Lisanna said as she rolled her eyes "Gray if you like her you should tell her or better yet show her."

"And how am I supposed to do that?" Gray asked in a mocking tone.

"Well..." Lisanna paused placing her finger gently to her chin and glancing up at the ceiling thinking of ideas "Seeing as we are on a this trip you should try and spend as much alone time with her as possible. I don't know exactly how you go about charming a girl but do whatever you have to and work your magic on her."

"Why do you care so much?" Gray asked curiously.

**_Because I want Natsu for myself. That's why._** Lisanna put a smile on her face and said sweetly "Because she's my friend and I want her to be happy." As long as it's not with Natsu

"I'll try" Gray said. I think the plan I had in mind might just do the trick.

"Great!" Lisanna said not able to contain the grin she had been holding back. Natsu will be all mine soon enough.

"Come on guys" Natsu said busting through the door "Hurry up and let's go to the beach."

"Calm down ash brain" Gray said in a harsh and insulting tone towards the dragon slayer.

"What'd you say ya damn stripper!" Natsu's tone now angry as he gripped Grays shirt.

"You heard me flame breath" Gray argued gripping Natsus scarf and aggressively butting their heads together.

"Come on guys" Lisanna said as she walked between the two cutting off their argument. "Let's go and Gray" she looked in Gray's direction "think about what I said."

After they left the room they started walking down the hallway when suddenly Lisanna stopped suddenly as a thought came to her. "You know what guys. I just remembered there's something I need to do. You two go ahead and I'll be right there."

"Would you like us to come with you?" Natsu asked.

"No it's ok" Lisanna said with a smile "It shouldn't take me to long." With that Lisanna ran the other direction down the hallway.

"That was odd!" Gray pointed out. "You said it!" Natsu agreed as they continued down the hallway in the direction of the beach.

**End Flashback**

"Hey guys!" Lucy said with a smile as she stood before her friends on the beach wearing her white two piece bikini with the pink flowers on it.

"Finally decided to join us, huh Luce?" Natsu with a smile.

"Yeah! I couldn't get get much sleep and after Lisanna dropped by I got changed and came down to find you."

"So that's where you went off to?" Natsu asked looking over to Lisanna.

"It just wasn't the same without Lucy. So I went to see if she was awake and wanted to join us." Lisanna answered. "Well now that we are all here what should we do?"

"Well I've been dying to go wake surfing again" Lucy suggested.

Immediately Natsus thoughts were flooded with memories of him and Lucy on their last visit to the resort and he had suggested he and Lucy go wake surfing and as soon as the boat moved he was laying flat on his stomach begging to get off while holding on for dear life.

"H-How about we play a game of beach volley ball instead" Natsu suggested trying to avoid getting motion sick.

"I-I don't kn-"

"That sounds like a great idea" Lisanna said interrupting Lucy mid protest.

"W-Wait a m-"

"Great" Natsu said pumped up "So how should we pair up? Boys vs Girls or Boy Girl vs. Boy Girl?"

"How about we do Gray" Lisanna said drawing out the ice mages name as she looked over to him with a smirk and winked "and Lucy vs Natsu and I."

"W-Wait a minute!" Lucy said a bit louder "Are you sure you wanna play Lisanna?" that question caused Lisanna to give the blonde a confused stare. "Lisanna you might want to rethink what you just suggested." Lucy said in a lower tone "You don't know how serious these guys can get. Once we went to a spa and the next thing I know the pillow fight from hell was happening."

"Come on Lucy" Lisanna said with a chuckle "that's crazy."

As Lisanna walked away Gray came up next to the still nervous blonde "It shouldn't be to bad" he said reassuring Lucy as he gently placed his hand on the middle of her back guiding her to the net where Natsu and Lisanna were standing.

"If you say so." Lucy said still not convinced.

**After the volleyball game**

"I told you playing with these Neanderthals was a bad idea." Lucy said standing next to Lisanna.

"It wasn't so bad" the young white haired mage said with a smile.

What game were you watching? Lucy thought as she stared at the deranged strauss sister.

The volleyball game started as a friendly one. That is until Natsu sent a serve full force towards Lucy. Not wanting to re-live the pillow fight incident Lucy had moved out of the way. Not wanting to lose Gray dove in and served the ball back over the net. The boys got so into the game that they were now serving the ball with full force leaving the originally idea of it being two against two had turned into Gray vs Natsu.

"What do you mean you flame brained idiot?" Gray yelled "I won the game."

"You stupid Ice freak. I won" Natsu argued back.

All the girls could do was watch as Natsu and Gray argued over who won.

It wasn't until half an hour later that after an exchange of fists, fire and ice magic was the argument concluded with both sides struggling to stand.

"Now that y'all are done can we go get changed?" Lucy asked impatiently "It's getting late and I'm starving."

"How about we go eat at the casino and then play some of the games?" Lisanna suggested.

"Sounds great!" Natsu said with a grin. "I can play that game again. Last time it didn't give me my number but this time I know it will."

"And if it doesn't you can always cry about it again!" Gray mocked as he wiped the sand off of his chest remembering Natsu's reaction from their last trip.

"I couldn't help it." Natsu defended "It acted like it was gonna give me my number and then changed at the last minute."

"Don't be such a sore loser Natsu." Gray said.

Just as Natsu opened his mouth to rebuttal Lisanna interrupted him "So what'da say? Shall we go?"

"I think I'm just gonna head back to the room, take a hot shower and order room service." Lucy explained.

"What?" Natsu said sounding a bit disappointed "Why?"

"I wanna wash all of this sand off of me plus ordering room service will give me some time to relax. I can join you at the casino later."

"We could all hang out and eat in Lucy and old drupe eyes room" Natsu suggested.

"How about we all head to our rooms, unpack, shower and meet up at the casino in an hour." Gray insisted.

Before Natsu could argue Lisanna hastily chimed in, "That's a great idea Gray. So Natsu and I will head to our rooms and we'll meet you guys later."

As Lisanna grabbed hold of Natsu's arm she hurried off with him towards the hotel. The whole point of their coming along on the trip was to keep Natsu away from Lucy as much as possible while pushing Gray and Lucy closer.

"Well that was odd" Lucy said to Gray as they walked a good distance behind Lisanna and Natsu.

"Yeah." Was the only thing Gray could say. The rest of the walk to the hotel was awkward and silent.

**In Lucy and Gray's hotel room**

"So do you want to shower first or should I?" Lucy asked as she gathered a change of clothes and a towel.

"I just got into bed so you can go ahead." Gray insisted.

"Alright" she agreed unaware that Gray was watching her from the corner of his eye.

After a moment of silence Gray finally spoke up, "Hey Luce?" His words stopped her mid-step on the way to the bathroom. She didn't say a word as she looked at him but Gray continued "I just wanted to say I'm so-"

"Gray stop!" Lucy interrupted as she set her things on the dresser and taking a seat at the edge of Grays bed "You don't have to apologize."

"I want to explain my reasons for why I didn't tell you so please just let me" Gray said in a serious tone. Lucy sat in silence only nodding her head as a answer to Gray. "Luce the reason why I didn't tell you about Lisanna and Natsu joining us on our trip is because I was afraid that if you knew then you might have changed your mind about coming."

"But why would I mind?" Lucy asked "There our friends."

"Yeah I know they are our friends but..." Gray paused for a minute trying to find the right way to say it without letting her know that he kind of knew her current feelings towards the duo "I don't know lately I've kind of been getting this feeling that you're angry at them for some reason. I might be wrong but that's just what it's seemed like."

For a split second Lucy's eyes were wide in shock at what she had just heard. _**Could he really tell? But I was so careful on hiding my feelings. No there's no way he could know.**_

"Lucy?" Gray said a bit concerned

"Listen Gray" she said "If you had told me that the two of them would be joining us I wouldn't have changed my mind about coming on this trip. I'm not angry at either of them and I'm not mad at you for not telling me. I'm sorry if I made it seem that way. I don't know what I could have done that made you feel that way but I'm not angry in the least. Besides, how could I be mad at you when you went through all this trouble to set all this up. Gray you mean more to me then you know. You are one of my closest friends. But if you still feel the need to apologize" Lucy said jokingly as she got up off the bed "why don't you order us some lunch while I go take a bath. I'm starving."

In response Gray flashed her a smirk as he nodded his head and picked up the phone for room service. _**You already know my feelings for you**_** Luce.** Gray thought as he waited to talk to one of the kitchen staff _**Hopefully by the end up this trip you and I will be more then just friends.**_

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**I'm sorry for the delay on this chapter. I kept getting stuck on certain parts and I don't know but I feel like I could have written Gray and Lucy's conversation a bit better. I'm fine with what I wrote but If I come up with something better I'll change it. **

**So what do you guys think of the new chapter?**


	17. Preparing for the carnival

**So I in no way shape or form own any of the characters of Fairy Tail. I would be so cool if I did but i don't. They all belong to Hiro Mashima. However this story idea is 100% mine. Thank you all to everyone who has favorited, Followed and reviewed my story so far. I really appreciate it**

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The rest of their night didn't go as they originally planned. After Gray ordered room service they ate dinner and spend a relaxing night watching movies until they fell asleep. As for Natsu and Lisanna, Natsu ate as much food as he could until his stomach was the size of a giant beach ball and he passed out and Lisanna went to bed disappointed because she had hoped to progress her relationship with Natsu past friendship.

**The Next morning at the hotel buffet**

Once arriving at the breakfast hall Natsu and Gray raced to the buffet and Lucy and Lisanna slowly followed behind.

"So did you and Natsu go to the casino last night?" Lucy asked. She was feeling guilty for skipping out on her friends last night. But she and Gray had so much fun watching movies in their room that she really didn't want to leave.

"Uhhhhh... well not exactly" Lisanna answered nervously while she tried to come up with a good excuse. " You see...Natsu and I stayed in the room and had a romantic dinner...yeah that's it.. a romantic dinner. I planned it all last minute while Natsu was in the shower. I am just so excited about this trip. To bad tonight is out last night and we have to leave tomorrow. So..." Lisanna looked over with a suspicious look on her face "Did you and Gray go to the casino last night?"

"No we stayed in and watched some movies" Lucy answered as she put a spoonful of fruit on her plate. Suddenly a huge smile stretched across Lisanna's face. "Do I sense love in the air between you and Gray?" Lisanna asked somewhat playful and hopeful.

"WHAT?!" Lucy asked surprised and almost dropped her plate of food. "Gray and I? Are you crazy? We are just friends."

Not satisfied with that answer Lisanna decided to push it further. "I don't know Lucy, I sense something more between the two of you." Just before Lucy could argue Lisanna cut her off "Now don't go biting my head off I said I sense it and that's all." Just as they reached the end of the buffet line and were walking to the table where the guys were stuffing their faces. "But who know's, maybe something will happen today at the carnival." Lisanna said with a sinister smirk on her face leaving Lucy standing in another state of shock and confusion _**Carnival**_.

After regaining her composure Lucy joined the table curious to know more about the carnival. "So what's all this about a carnival?" Lucy asked just before sticking a strawberry in her mouth. "Didn't you know Lucy?" Lisanna asked "For this weekend only the Akane Resort is holding a special couples carnival." Just as the words came from her mouth Gray, who was sitting on the other side of the table suddenly started choking on the food her current food he had in his mouth. After his choking stopped Lisanna started explaining "You see I heard from other people visiting the resort that tonight they are hosting a one night couples carnival. Everyone is welcome but it is mainly for couples. Near the end of the night there are supposed to be fireworks and plus i heard they are gonna have rainbow colored cherry blossoms planted especially for tonight." At that Lucys eye's lit up. She had only been able to see the cherry blossoms once, thanks to Natsu, and she had been dying to see them again. "Really?" She asked with excitement "I have been dying to see the cherry blossoms again. Guys we have to go."

"Of course we are going" Lisanna answered "I haven't seen a rainbow cherry blossom tree since I have been back. Plus, I love carnivals. So I was thinking that since we didn't get to go to the casino last night we could go after we finish eating and then tonight head to the carnival. What do you think?"

"I'm all fired up!" Natsu said as he slammed his fork on the table. "What are we waiting for? Lets go now!" Before Lucy could react Natsu had already grabbed her arm and was dragging her behind him. "Natsu wait! I wasn't done with my breakfast!" Lucy argued Near the doorway.

As soon as the duo couldn't be seen anymore Lisanna gently placed her arms on the table and rested her head on her hand. "So..." She paused for a minute getting Grays attention. "Did anything progress with you and Lucy last night?"

This question caused Gray to stop mid-bite and place the fork back down on the plate. "We stayed in and watched movies."

"Gray" Lisanna's tone suddenly turned serious as she placed her hands flat on the table and looked Gray straight in the eye "This trip is nearly over and if you don't do something now then more then likely nothing will ever happen between you and Lucy. Are you ok with that? If you don't take action soon you will watch Lucy move on with her life and possibly someone else." For a split second there was an emotion in Lisanna's eyes that Gray couldn't describe so he let it slide as she continued talking "We only have one more day here..."

"I get it, ok!" Gray said in a some what aggravated tone as he interrupted Lisanna mid-sentence. For some reason Lisanna was a little bit more invested with his progress with Lucy then she needed to be. He just couldn't put his finger on why. Of course she was Mira's sister and Mira was never one to shy away from trying to be the relationship wizard when it came to people, but Lisanna had been different. Now it seemed like she was ready to go through hoops to get he and Lucy together. "You don't need to worry about me Lisanna. I have a plan to try and win Lucys heart and whether it works or not is completely up to her. Now if you will excuse me." Gray said as he stood up from his seat "I am gonna go get changed and head to the casino."

After Gray walked away all that was left was a smirk on Lisannas face as she slowly got up from the table and headed towards her hotel room to change.

_**At the Casino** _

The casino was just as beautifully decorated as the last time they had been there. As large as it was, It was lit with beautiful lights that made the room sparkle. On the main floor held many different activities. On the left was the bar and surrounding the bar was an assortment of slots and other kinds of games. Above head screams could be heard from the people riding the rollercoaster that just happened to run though the casino.

Currently Natsu and Lisanna were back at the machine he had been hooked on the last time he had visited the resort. Still determined that seventeen was his winning number he hammered down the the button in hopes of the machine picking his number. Gray was currently sitting at the bar. Every few minutes or so he would let out as snicker when Natsu's voice could be heard from across the room yelling at the machine. Lucy was still no where to be seen any where around the casino. After Natsu dragged her to the casino she walked back to the hotel room where she had just ran into Gray on his way out. After exchanging a few words Gray headed towards the casino and Lucy went into their room to change.

Suddenly there was a tap on Grays shoulder and as he turned around he couldn't believe what was seeing. Lucy was standing behind her looking just as beautiful as ever. She wore a stunning Black and White dress with a heart shaped out of diamond studs in the middle that wrapped around her neck, black heels and she had her hair done with partial curls.

"What do you think? To much?" Lucy asked timidly as Gray just sat there staring at her. After his mind caught up with him cleared his throat and responded "Not at all. You look great."

"T-Thanks" she thanked with a light blush on her face. "I was so excited about this trip that I bought this dress just for it." Before she could continue Natsu's crying could be heard once again and so she excused herself away from Gray and went over towards Natsu. After finishing his drink Gray got up and joined the group and they dragged Natsu away from the machine.

It took a crude comment from Gray to get Natsu to stop his whining and start yelling. After exchanging a few words, head butts and a punch or two the group went on to enjoy an afternoon at the casino. Lucy went on with an amazing winning streak until Natsu talked her into betting it all on his lucky number at the roulette table and cost her the rent money she had won for the next three months when the ball landed on Red twenty five. You could only imagine how far Lucys jaw dropped when she watched as the ball land on the number in front of Black seventeen. After that as a sort of payback Lucy made Natsu ride one of the bull riding like machines. Gray and Lucy spent some at the tables playing poker and Lisanna just kind of explored the casino floor and trying everything that it had to offer. After a couple of hours of fun and gambling they decided it was time to grab a bite to eat and then get changed for the carnival.

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**I know it's late and there isn't much excitement in this chapter but it's finally here and I promise the next chapter will have something really good in it. Just you wait :) Well anyways I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please review and tell me what you think :)**


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